MP slams move to quiz pupils if they wear hijab in the classroom
ABIRMINGHAM MP has demanded Ofsted school inspectors scrap plans to ask schoolgirls why they wear the hijab.
Edgbaston MP Preet Gill wrote to Education Secretary Justine Greening – prior to her leaving the Cabinet this week – to say the proposal had “caused outrage among many of my constituents”.
It followed the announcement that inspectors will question Muslim primary school pupils with headscarves such as a hijab to ask why they wear it.
Ofsted and the Department for Education have required schools to teach and reflect British values since the Trojan Horse scandal in Birmingham in 2014, when an inquiry found there was a “co-ordinated, deliberate and sustained” campaign to introduce “an intolerant and aggressive Islamic ethos into a few schools” in the city.
Amanda Spielman, the head of Ofsted and chief inspector of schools, said in November that encouraging primary school children to wear the hijab “could be interpreted as sexualisation of young girls”.
She said: “Inspectors will talk to girls who wear such garments to why they do so in the school.”
The announcement has been controversial, with the Muslim Council of Britain saying it sent a message that British women who choose to wear a headscarf are “second class citizens”.
In her letter, Labour MP Ms Gill said: “It is vital that all communities are able to practise their religion free from perse- ascertain
It is vital that all communities are able to practise their religion free from persecution
cution. In particular, I believe that children should not be subjected to unnecessary questioning by Ofsted inspectors.”
She told Ms Greening: “I’m sure that you will agree that all children should be free to practise their religion without undue interference.
“I ask that you work with Ofsted to ensure that young Muslim girls are able to practise their religion free from discrimination or interrogation.”