A leaked investigation report into an alleged plot to takeover school syllabus in some of Britain’s schools has found attempts by extremists to introduce an “intolerant and aggressive Islamist ethos.”
A draft of the government-ordered report into the so-called ‘Trojan Horse’ plot targeting some Birmingham schools, marked “sensitive”, has been leaked to British newspapers on Friday.
It states: “Left unchecked, it would confine schoolchildren within an intolerant, inward-looking monoculture that would severely inhibit their participation in the life of modern Britain.”
The inquiry, conducted by Scotland Yard’s former counter-terrorism chief Peter Clarke, was ordered by former education secretary Michael Gove and began in April. The probe is one of several since the Trojan Horse scandal broke. Birmingham has a large Muslim population -- nearly 22 per cent, according to the 2011 census.
The plot involves the alleged takeover of secular state schools and the removal of secular head teachers in Birmingham by radical Muslim staff and governors.
According to the Guardian, Clarke gathered 2,000 documents and generated 2,000 pages of interview transcripts from 50 witnesses, including former headteachers, teachers, council staff and school governors. “The level of distress and anxiety felt by the witnesses cannot be overstated,” he concludes.
Clarke denies the report is Islamophobic, saying the evidence shows a group of governors and senior teachers represented a form of Muslim extremism rejected by most Muslims in east Birmingham.
He argues it was likely that most parents did not approve of the culture imposed in the schools, but they “did not have the confidence to argue against the articulate, forceful activists who seek to impose their views, for fear of being branded as disloyal to their faith or community”.
Birmingham City Council is set to release its own report into the allegations soon.
Image is used for representational purposes only.
