Islamic school that splits boys and girls at lunch condemned
Girls should not be ‘oppressed’, says MP Mahmood
ABIRMINGHAM MP has hit out at an Islamic school which does not allow girls to eat lunch until the boys have finished.
Khalid Mahmood said he was “astonished” that the Al-Hijrah school, in Bordesley Green, would impose the rule.
Al-Hijrah has already been warned that its continued practice of segregating older boys and girls on faith grounds is against the law.
The school received a letter from education watchdog Ofsted in October stating it was operating an “unlawful discriminatory policy” among secondary students.
It was ordered to stop the unlawful practice by the Court of Appeal in 2017.
“They’re supposed to be providing a good, sound education for young people, not restrict their horizons,” said Mr Mahmood (Labour, Perry Barr).
Young women should “not be oppressed”, he added, suggesting the school was taking children “backwards”.
Mr Mahmood said: “This is a big issue. There are far too many of these schools given licences to operate and I think we have to get much more stringent about looking at the curriculums they provide and the way that they do it.”
Luke Tryl, director of corporate strategy at Ofsted, told MPs on the women and equalities select committee the school was still enforcing “very strict gender segregation” which is “denying the girls to have their lunch until the boys have had theirs”.
He said: “The Court of Appeal rightly said that schools needed a transition period where they were segregating and yet still we have not just Al-Hijrah but we have countless other schools, mixed schools which are segregating on the basis of sex.
“Similarly other schools who have refused to teach about sexual orientation issues. We have commented on reports but we haven’t seen a change there.
“This is where I talk about the isolation.
“We
go
out
there. We
make
these tough decisions and we often take quite a lot of criticism for the stance we take but we don’t always see the enforcement action we would like to see.”
He added: “Our inspectors are going out and having to make some quite tricky judgments where there are those potential clashes [between laws and religious freedoms].
“We perhaps don’t always feel we get the support we need from the rest of Government in pushing that forward.”
Ofsted rated the Al-Hijrah school inadequate in 2016.
Court of Appeal judges ruled a year ago that the city council-funded school, which is in special measures, was discriminating against its pupils contrary to the Equality Act 2010.
The court ruling affected a number of schools across the country, but stated that they must be given time to make the necessary changes.
Ofsted has allowed the school to make new appointments as it consults on its future. The proposed changes would end provision for Years 7 and above.
Boys and girls are taught together in all classes during its primary phase, but are segregated once they reach the secondary years.
A spokesman for Birmingham City Council said: “The Interim Executive Board is proposing that from September 2019 Al-Hijrah will offer mixed gender primary education only, on a new site, converting to an academy following a directive academy order from the Department for Education.
“Secondary provision would close and those pupils integrated into local provision.”
as
There are far too many of these schools given licences to operate