‘Government should set school hijab rules’

THE Government must set policies on the wearing of hijabs in schools, the head of Ofsted has suggested.

Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector of schools, said it was “worrying” that head teachers could be “bullied” by campaigners into changing their uniform policies.

Ms Spielman’s comments come after she threw her weight behind the head teacher of an east London primary school who tried to ban pupils under the age of eight from wearing hijabs.

Neena Lall was later forced into reversing the ban at St Stephen’s School in Newham after a backlash from activists who accused her Islamophobia.

She became the subject of an intimidation campaign that included a video comparing her to Hitler.

Speaking at the Commons education select committee, Ms Spielman agreed with MPS that the events at St Stephen’s set a “dangerous precedent” since young girls wearing the hijab is a “cultural preference” rather than a religious dictate.

“Compared with most countries we give more autonomy to individual heads. If we are going to end up with an asymmetry where people conscientiously, running often quite small schools, can be effectively targeted and bullied in this way, I think we’re in a very worrying world.

“It opens the question whether it is right to leave so much decisionmaking at individual school level and whether some of these decisions that are becoming increasingly difficult and sensitive should be taken at local authority or multi-academy trust or central government level.”

Ms Spielman, who was being quizzed by a cross-party group of MPS, told how inspectors have seen some “very disturbing things” at unregistered schools, including youngsters being taught in “squalid conditions”.

She told the committee that she would like tougher powers to inspect suspected unregistered schools and to seize evidence.

Lord Agnew, an education minister, has previously said that teachers, school leaders and governors are “completely within their right to make decisions on how to run their schools in the best interests of their pupils … and we back their right to do so.”