Schools trust faces questions for branding gays as ‘evil’
One of the Islamic body’s schools had previously been praised by Osted for promoting British values
AN ISLAMIC schools trust praised for promoting British values is facing questions from the charity watchdog after branding gay people as “evil”.
The Charity Commission has launched a compliance case into the Abu Bakr Trust, which runs three schools and a nursery in Walsall, West Midlands, after staff used social media channels to promote anti-gay views.
While one of its schools, which are independent but have received government grants, was found to be inadequate at the last inspection, another was praised by Ofsted for promoting equality and British values.
The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that just months after the inspection last year the trust posted on Facebook that accepting homosexuality was part of “a fallen culture” and shared a video which said that “when homosexuality is praised and elevated you know the culture has fallen”.
It also told followers to engage in prayer for “protection against LGBTQ” which it described as “evil deeds”, adding: “My Lord, save me and my family from what they do”.
The trust has shared a video of a Taliban cleric discussing women’s rights following the group’s takeover of Afghanistan, stating that “every country is independent”.
The posts appear to undermine the Ofsted inspection which found that pupils at Abu Bakr girls’ school “talk confidently about tolerance, acceptance and respect” and that “the work in pupils’ books clearly shows that fundamental British values are being actively promoted”. The disclosure comes as an online petition to Parliament to “remove LGBT content from the relationships education curriculum” from primary schools reached 200,000 signatures.
There is no requirement to teach LGBT content in primary schools but the Henry Jackson Society, which identified the concerns at Abu Bakr, is concerned about a campaign against inclusive teaching in Birmingham, where there have been protests outside schools in recent years.
Charlotte Littlewood, a research fellow at the think tank that compiled the research, said authorities needed to investigate the trust and the Government
should wake up to campaigns seeking to undermine the curriculum. “The efforts of hate preachers, activists, community organisations and even schools to oppose teaching on inclusion and equality in the UK should be a major concern for the DfE,” she said.
Yesterday a Charity Commission spokesman said: “We have opened a compliance case into the Abu Bakr Trust regarding social media activity and are assessing information to inform our next steps.”
The Department of Education has the power to order Ofsted to launch an investigation into independent schools and said that any form of discrimination was unlawful. A Department for Education spokesman said: “Schools should be safe and welcoming for all pupils and teachers. The Equality Act makes it unlawful to discriminate against individuals on the basis of protected characteristics, which include sexuality and sex and we have issued guidance for schools to help them to comply with these duties.
“Independent schools are required to meet the independent school standards and where schools fail to meet them, they can be subject to further inspections and enforcement action.”
Abu Bakr Trust said it could not comment at present.