.... Clarke, a former counter-terror police chief, found that a small number of governors in a small number of schools have sought to influence curriculums with bigoted views. He says: “There has been coordinated, deliberate and sustained action, carried out by a number of associated individuals, to introduce an intolerant and aggressive Islamic ethos into a few schools.
“The effect has been to limit the life chances of the young people in their care and to render them more vulnerable to pernicious influences.”
.... The challenge now is to rebuild trust and repair damaged relationships. We need to ensure community representatives can work with Birmingham city council to formulate a vision of the principles and values of education in our city, and to chart a way forward that puts our children first.
[A COMMENT] It would no doubt help in that process if the communities themselves were more insistent on having representatives who did not attempt to to introduce an intolerant and aggressive Islamic ethos into a few schools.
[ANOTHER] I find the very word 'community' divisive. Who decides the entry criteria to be member of this 'community'?
What people really mean when they use the word 'community' is 'our race' or 'our religion' or 'our culture'.
It seems many people who put themselves forward as 'community leaders' are purely there to defend vested interested so that they can retain their power and influence and resist the much needed change and reform of their 'community'.
[ANOTHER] "The moderate Majority has to be much, much more vocal in their criticism of the intolerant Minority". But the problem is they are intimidated by the minority, and the liberal left that controls the media gives them no support whatsoever. In fact, papers like the Guardian specialize in making excuses for the intolerant minority.
[ANOTHER] "Stigmatising Muslims won’t solve problems in Birmingham schools". You have a point there. But how do you solve the problem of a section of society that wants to remove themselves from that society based on weird oppressive religious belief?
[ANOTHER] From the very start of this sorry story Salma Yaqoob and her fellow denialists have conflated the community with the malign cranks in their midst by saying that anyone who criticises the latter is in fact guilty of traducing the former. They are as responsible as anyone for stigmatising the Muslim community.
[ANOTHER] The author claimed in the previous comment piece that there was no evidence of a "plot" by Islamists to promote their radical views within certain schools. She has been proven wrong. Will she admit that? No, clearly not. [Guardian Cif] Read more
