Seven years late Leader of Britain's worst council apologises for hard-line takeover of schools
Birmingham
Council leader Sir Albert Bore has at last apologised over the Trojan Horse scandal and admitted education staff
ignored the issue for ‘‘fear of being accused of racism.”
But he
says it is this issue, not his own fears of being accused of racism that has ‘raised
the spectre of racism’
However
it was only a few weeks ago his own Chief Executive said there was no Trojan
Horse - http://chrisjmyers.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/no-birmingham-trojan-house-schoolls.html
And,
disgracefully, there is still no apology on the City Council’s web site. Only this pathetic press release: http://birminghamnewsroom.com/2014/07/trojan-horse-response-to-education-secretarys-statement/
In June,
after a report that found evidence of attempts to impose a hardline Islamic
education in some schools the council trumpeted that there was no organised ‘plot’
http://birminghamnewsroom.com/2014/06/trojan-horse-briefing-june-9/ No apology then either.
Bore’s belated
apology came as a council-backed inquiry into claims that hard-line Muslims
were looking to takeover some city schools revealed allegations and concerns
were raised as long as SEVEN YEARS ago.
The damning council report, by independent education
consultant Ian Kershaw, found there was a ‘determined effort to
change schools, often by unacceptable practices, to influence religious and
education provision’.
But in a
crude attempt to divert attention away from the council Bore was quick to
condemn governors at Park View Academy in Alum Rock and Saltley School who had so far refused to
apologise for their actions.
He has
also not apologised for his council’s use of pay-offs – so called ‘compromise
agreements’ – that were used to silence teachers who spoke out about an Islamic
takeover of schools.
These
include Balwant Bains, former head of Saltley School. He accepted a pay-off after being targeted by
the school’s Muslim-dominated board of governors because he objected to the introduction
of all halal food and that had expelled the son of another governor after an
knife incident in the school. Those governors
also objected to his refuseal to scrap sex education. http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/head-school-targeted-jihadist-plot-6789943
He was targeted
in an anonymous text message that branded him a “racist, Islamophobic head
teacher”
The
council’s use of pay-offs is reported here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10986151/Council-gagged-teachers-from-raising-Trojan-Horse-concerns.html
This
reporting, from Birmingham Mail www.birminghammail.co.uk
Bore also revealed that eight local authority
school governors had been removed following the inquiry. The council has no
power to act on Academy schools – although Park View governors
resigned earlier this week.
The Kershaw report was issued on the day details of
the Department for Education’s own inquiry by counter terrorism expert Peter
Clarke, due to be published on Tuesday, were leaked saying he had found an
‘aggressive Islamist agenda’ in Birmingham schools.
At a press conference Sir Albert said: “I want to
apologise to the people of Birmingham for the way the actions of a few,
including some within the council, have undermined the reputation of our great
city, and particularly the Muslim communities for whom this has raised the
spectre of Islamophobia.
“We have previously shied away from tackling this
problem out of a misguided fear of being accused of racism.”
But he was also scathing of governors and senior
staff in schools who had pushed their narrow ideology, through infiltration,
intimidation and bullying – summarised as ‘serious malpractice’ in the report.
“The report highlights the utter disregard for and
rejection of the basic principles of public life by some school governors.
“In the recent resignations of governors at Saltley
and Park View Academy Trust we have not heard a single apology, nor recognition
of any misdemeanor.
“Blaming
others for a failure to meet basic decent standards of behaviour in public life
is simply not acceptable.”
Asked if he or any other senior staff at the
council would resign over the scandal, Sir Albert answered that he only took
over two years ago and the issues go back much further.
It was also pointed out in the report that in 2011
there were 174 staff working in school improvement. Yet despite a growth in
academies and free schools, independent of council control, austerity cuts mean
there are now only 20.
Sir Albert has pledged that action will now be
taken and added: “We now have a clear basis to move forward and ensure this will
not happen again.”
The 150-page Mr Kershaw report found
that governors at Trojan Horse-linked Birmingham schools were guilty of
‘serious malpractice’ including campaigns of intimidation and
bullying which led to head teachers being forced out. It identified a number of
‘key individuals who are encouraging and promoting certain Islamic principles
in schools’.
While not commenting on whether or not the Trojan
Horse letter was a hoax, Mr Kershaw did conclude that the conditions for school
takeovers as outlined in the letter existed at a number of schools in the East
Birmingham area.
He also criticised the city council, Ofsted and the
Department for Education for failing to properly monitor and oversee the
running of schools – saying they failed to share information and too often
focused only on exam performance.
In the report Mr Kershaw said: “In a number of
schools relevant to the investigation there have been incidents of governing
bodies attempting to, and being successful in removing head teachers or senior
members of staff from post or causing disruption to their roles.
“This has been manifested in explicit campaigns to
remove specific members of staff, or by the general behaviour of certain
governors, or a governing body, to bully or harass a head teacher or seek to
remove them without proper process.”
He added that poor governance in the schools was a
“result of, at best, poor skills and at worst, serious malpractice”.
“It is clear that in some governing bodies there
have been individuals who have rejected responsibility for displaying
integrity, objectivity and honesty in all matters related to the governance of
a school,” he said.
The report identified the failings by city council
staff who tended to ‘shy away’ from challenging governors or tackling
complaints for fear of being branded racist. The council has admitted that
there is a ‘cultural problem’ which will be tackled.
The report also found that ‘key individuals’ had
moved around schools promoting a hard-line Muslim ethos, including segregation
of boys and girls, and homophobia, disregarded other faiths and removed sex
education and citizenship from the curriculum.
These views were seemingly backed according to
details of the Department for Education Clarke report.
Both reports appear to blame a lack of oversight of
academies and poor communication between the council, Department for Education
and Ofsted for allowing the problems to grow unchecked.
The five were three schools in the Park View
Educational Trust, Park View, Nansen and Golden Hillock, along
with Saltley and Oldknow Academy.
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