School inspectors are so concerned at the level of sexist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, and anti-Western material in Britain’s Islamic schools, they have compiled a dossier of examples.
The Ofsted document highlights books encouraging domestic violence, marital rape, and Islamic supremacism, as well as sexist homework assignments marked approvingly by British teachers, The Times reports.
There are 177 Muslim schools in England, with 148 being independent and 29 state-funded.
Of the 139 independent Islamic schools inspected since 2015, 57 per cent were rated less than good, compared to 11 per cent of all schools. Many were marked down for failing to uphold British values.
According to the dossier, children at one school were encouraged to study a text contrasting the “noble woman of the East” who veils her head and the “internally torn woman of the West”, who “leaves her home to knock about aimlessly in cinemas and cafés, malls and bazaars, parks and theatres, exhibitions and circuses”.
There were also library books in schools encouraging rape by claiming “the wife is not allowed to refuse sex to her husband” and insisting she cannot “leave the house where she lives without his permission” and that “the man by way of correction can also beat her”.
Some work marked by teachers stated that women had a responsibility “only to bear children and bring them up as Muslims”. Another pupil submission, said to be “covered in approving red ticks”, described women as inferior to men.
Ofsted insiders said the books and writings made for “uncomfortable reading”.
Because of the failings of Islamic schools, Dame Louise Casey, the government’s former integration tsar, has been calling for a moratorium on the opening new faith schools — including Christian ones — until problems are addressed.
“Some schools are teaching a segregated way of life and misogyny and the government isn’t taking enough of a stand,” she told The Times.
“The public expects them to do that. The DFE turns a blind eye and hopes that Ofsted will deal with the problem. It’s all in the ‘too difficult’ box.”
Last year, Dame Casey published a report slamming the state of integration of some migrant communities in the UK, warning of “worrying levels” of segregation and “regressive religious and cultural ideologies” taking root.
Last week, it was reported that school inspectors will begin speaking to primary schoolgirls wearing hijabs to ascertain why they are covering their hair, amidst concerns children as young as four are forced to cover by teachers and parents.
The Chief Inspector of Schools, Amanda Spielman, said the hijab “could be interpreted as sexualisation of young girls” and should be questioned, as it is not traditionally worn until puberty.
She also explained that schools could also be in breach of equality laws if girls are required to wear religious clothing but boys are not.
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