BRITISH Schools are being used by extremists to “indoctrinate impressionable minds” under the guise of religious beliefs warns Ofsted.
Amanda Spielman, the head of Ofsted warns schools that they should not assume that the “most conservative voices” of a particular faith group speak for everyone.
Ms Spielman added that some individuals want to narrow students’ horizons.
Spielman backed the headteacher of St Stephen’s primary school in east London, who was forced to REVERSE plans to ban pupils from wearing the hijab in class.
More than 19,000 people signed a petition against the ban, some were not even parents or local to the school.
Ms Spielman said: “Schools must not allow pressure from certain elements of communities to dictate school policy,”
“nor should we allow vocal parental minorities to pressure other parents and children to act or dress against their
wishes.”
“Giving way to the loudest voices is the opposite of tolerance,” she said.
“Under the pretext of religious belief, they use education institutions, legal and illegal, to narrow young people’s horizons, to isolate and segregate, and in the worst cases to indoctrinate impressionable minds with extremist ideology.
“Freedom of belief in the private sphere is paramount, but in our schools, it is our responsibility to tackle those who actively undermine fundamental British values or equalities law.
“That doesn’t just mean Ofsted, but everyone involved in education.
“Rather than adopting a passive liberalism, that says ‘anything goes’ for fear of causing offence, schools leaders should be promoting a muscular liberalism,”
The Ofsted’s chiefs statement comes two years after it was found Muslim faith Schools were segregating students and staff and refused to adhere to new requirements to comply with “British values.”
Rabia School in Luton was threatened with closure by Ofsted after it used a dividing screen down the middle of a classroom to segregate staff during a meeting with inspectors earlier this month.