Ofsted Inspection

Iftikhar wrote: Muslim community would like to protect their children from the evils of the western society.

In which case, if it's that evil, departing from it would seem an obvious move.

Muslim schools teach Muslim children that sex outside marriage is a sin. Homosexuality is also a sin. Sex before marriage and homosexuality are western values and Muslims are not supposed to adopt them.

And that gives them the right to criticize them?
That's a superiority stance, not really compatible with a multicultural or cosmopolitan society.

British values, which are said to include respect for legally protected characteristics such as homosexuality, religion, gender change, disability, race and marital status.

That seems about right.

what a warping of British values, the British values I was taught are respect for the institution of marriage, freedom of religious pursuit, freedom of speech, respect for the monarch. respect for others.

I see the "respect for others" didn't take too well.
I don't disrespect marriage, but I see no reason why that should be the only possible arrangement sanctioned for a couple's relationship. Whatever happened to freedom of choice?

British culture. Watch BBC News about Rolf Harris and his evil deeds for the last 50 years. Muslims feel ashamed of British culture and it values.

Then you won't worry If I feel ashamed of Muslim culture and its values?
Freedom of speech and all that...
There is a saying of Jesus: first remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will be able to see to remove the speck from your neighbour's eye.

Let's not pretend this whole "British values" nonsense is about anything else than targeting British Muslims

Once a person has said that one can be confident that they have lost balance, markedly.
"It's all about targeting British Muslims."
No. It's not all about you. It's not even mainly about you.   It's your fixed perspective colouring what you think you see

Just as demonising Jews was once the means by which a country unified itself,

Actually no, if you read your history. Anti-semitism yes, but we've largely recovered from that over the last few hundred years.
(All we have left in law is a couple of items as a remnant of much more extensive **anti-Catholic** legislation)
And anti-semitism was never a tool to unite the country.
Little ever succeeded in that. Not even Hitler and Nazi Germany as an external threat and enemy up until 1939.

now Britons who are being viciously attacked by this Government and its super rich patrons are being asked to unite behind the flag and a vicious campaign against Islam.

Where have you imagined that from?
(We've only just decided we're pretty much in agreement about the flag, and that still comes with some dissenters!)

How is my government viciously attacking me?
Ignoring me, I might assent to!
A vicious campaign against Islam?
As far as I can see the numbers of mosques continues to increase, with permission for new buildings or for change of purpose for existing ones.
The only group expanding faster than the Muslims, (by a factor of three or four!) are the secularists who have no active religious belief, or are developed agnostics an d atheists.

This vicious campaign means Muslims are leaving Britain in their thousands...
...err, hang on a minute. Quite the reverse.
How odd. Almost as if there wasn't a vicious campaign at all.

The neoliberal revolution, as damaging to ordinary people as the enclosures of the more distant past and the industrial revolution of the more recent, is about to claim more victims: our fellow citizens who happen to be Muslim.

What an odd pair of parallels!
Yes, though scattered and even riddled with injustice and trauma, both those events, (massive complex things) were positive developments **for ordinary people**, both for all their disadvantages offering routes away from where the majority of ordinary people had been trapped, barely one step above subsistence agriculture, in an effective continuation of a medieval feudal system now maintained as much by "tradition" as by earlier codified servitude.

"It is not British values our children will be taught... ...what the rest of us in reality should be fighting against."

Boring, over-the-top, ill-argued rant.
Not worth wasting ammunition on.

Indiscipline, incivility, binge drinking, drug addiction, gun and knife crimes, teenage pregnancies and abortion are part and parcel of British schooling.

And you complain against British folk taking their view of Islam from newspaper headlines!
Dear oh dear.
"26 Feb 2014 - The number of UK teenage pregnancies in the UK has fallen to its lowest level since 1969, Office for National Statistics figures show."
Just for one.

I thought "Don't trust newspaper headlines" was one of your mantras.

[/QUOTE]
A couple of Pakistanis have adopted the British values of grooming young children. They are the product of the British schooling with non-Muslim monolingual teachers.

Unbelievable. On the minimalisation, the distortion and the twist of interpretation. Unbelievable. From someone who I presume would say they were concerned with truth. I would like to see Muslim children developing Cultural, linguistic and spiritual identities so that they could keep themselves away from western barbarity of anti-social behaviour, binge drinking, drug addiction, teen age pregnancies and abortion and lot of other evils The obvious way would be to take them to Islamic countries, then, if this place is so vile. It isn't, but you see it so, so clearly. but people like you do not want to see Muslim children in Muslim schools in the name of integration. Now you have seen the result in the form of sexual grooming of young children which is a common occurrence in your culture. What tint of spectacles do you have to wear to come up with that conclusion? Do you want me to bring up as many case files I can find, even-handedly? The demand for Muslim schools comes from parents who want their children a safe environment with an Islamic ethos. Parents see Muslim schools where children can develop their Islamic Identity where they won't feel stigmatised for being Muslims and they can feel confident about their faith. Muslim schools are working to try to create a bridge between communities. I don't see the first section as being particularly compatible with the last sentence, in theory or in practice. The West has never been at ease with Islam since the Crusades. I'll agree to that. I see an inherent clash of philosophies and world views. It is the West that stirred the trouble that led to 9/11. That attack was a desperate act of by men prepared to lose their life. And a crime. An utter criminal act. "The West" stirred the trouble? It depends how far you go back, and how many threads you trace. At leas 100 years, anyway. We need to get to grips on who is the terrorist? That's easy enough, though the term is in danger of being distorted until it only means "the enemy, whom we can demonize by calling them terrorists" A terrorist is one who pursues his cause by means of acts aimed not at military or political or economic targets, but with the aim of striking at and causing terror in the general public. It's so much easier to kill non-combatants, too. On 24 November 1963, Lyndon Johnson said, �the battle against communism� must be joined� with strength and determination. Some three million lives were lost in the consequential battles. The US had to pull out due to Public Opinion. Communism lived on. So who was the terrorist? Have you settled the argument as to whether opposition to communism was or was not necessary (3 million dead is rather less than the total the Soviet Union managed against its own people in the pursuit of Communism during the Stalin era.) Terror acts were undoubtedly performed on all sides. "The US had to pull out due to Public Opinion." That would be all those evil corrupt American citizens, then... campaigning for peace. The British establishment is wrong in thinking that Imams are to blame for extremism. Imams are not solution to the problem for extremism. Extremism is nothing to do with Imams. Have you heard some of them? I cannot believe your blanketd ismissal of any responsibility. It is hardly as simple or as snow-white as that. Britain fails to help Muslim communities feel part of British society. And Muslim communities are trying? Some maybe, but given your manifest hatred of British society, it seems unlikely that any sharing your perspective would be doing so. Race trouble is being predicted by the Daily Express, because of an ethnic boom in UK major cities. I hardly approve of the Daily Express (check anything it says at least twice) but that's not impossible. Immigration has gone too quickly, integration too slowly. Those Those Muslim youths who have been involved in terrorism and sexual grooming are the product of western education system ...and of their cultural background (which need not directly reflect the teaching of the Qur'an) Those I blame British schooling. For everything, its seems. It's handy to have a scapegoat. Now try for a deeper analysis, without prejudging the conclusion and without oversimplifying. Those I think its time for you apologize and allow practitioners to do their job right.

For what, and by your definition of "right"?
On the evidence collected here I see no great necessity to admit either.

Chris

Greetings Iftikhar,

While your aims are honorable...
wanting to raise the moral standards of the general community...
let us not pretend that immorality does not exist in the muslim community just as it does everywhere else....
your ideas are lacking vision and guidance.

Unfortunately you embrace a 'we' against 'them' mentality.  With blinders you see that everything in the west is bad, and you do not see that there are also good people... likewise, I am sure that you wear the blinders to the bad things that happen in muslim culture also.  Evil is not contained to one part of the world, or to one culture, it exists everywhere and among all of us.

It would be more honorable... rather than blindly condemning 'westerners'...
to recognize the good, and bad, in all people...
and to show by example and influence how we can ALL be better people.  The way Martin Luther King, Jr. led the way to change in the United States... uniting people together of two seemingly opposing factions... uniting both black and white colors of people... in fighting for what was right, just, and good... rather than taking a 'we' and 'them' mentality and adding to divisions, he saw that there is good in both groups of people, in all groups of people, and he led the way to a, 'what is right and good mentality', over what is unjust and unacceptable according to the Word of God.

Widening the divide helps no one... it only increases tensions, and divisions.  If you really want to bring people to God do not feed these divisions.  Segregation never solved anything, in fact it is the bane of what we see in the middle east today... the refusal of people to accept one another and live as one community, insisting instead that each remain in their own segregated communities.  It is the muslim desire to remain segregated in the nations they have chosen to inhabit, that is causing problems in all of the nations where they live.  It was also the reason the Jews encountered such difficulties with the Romans.  One must be willing to be part of the community, even while retaining ones own religious and moral convictions.  Good can not influence evil by staying at a distance.  Yshwe walked with the sinners, that He might have an influence on them and their thinking.  'What need do the righteous have of a healer?  It is the sick that need the physician.'

16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?

17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

asalaam and blessings,
Caringheart


Edited by Caringheart - 01 January 2015 at 2:47pm

Edited by Tim the plumber - 31 December 2014 at 4:04am

What gives OFSTED the right, or indeed any Brits, to preach to minority groups about how they should live their lives. This is a cosmopolitan country, the Muslim community have the right to educate their children how they choose. What has being British got to do with your religious belief? In Britain there are Hindus Sikhs pagans Jewish Buddhists atheist Zoroastrians Rasta's and many more should they all change there religious beliefs because they are British? Studying the Qur'an will certainly help towards these children becoming fully integrated citizens of the UK.

Muslim schools should be inspected by Muslim members of the Ofsted. They understand the needs and demands of the Muslim children as well as their parents. Twenty leading educationalists and Muslim leaders have questioned Ofsted's impartiality in the Birmingham 'Trojan Horse' affair, education consultant Robin Richardson reflects on the factors behind its controversial recent inspections. What gives OFSTED the right, or indeed any Brits, to preach to minority groups about how they should live their lives. This is a cosmopolitan country, the Muslim community have the right to educate their children how they choose. What has being British got to do with your religious belief? In Britain there are Hindus Sikhs pagans Jewish Buddhists atheist Zoroastrians Rasta's and many more should they all change there religious beliefs because they are British? Studying the Qur'an will certainly help towards these children becoming fully integrated citizens of the UK. Like many Ofsted stories this is no news. There are lots of schools up and down the land without male teachers. Teaching is so female dominated you wonder why pupils are so poorly behaved. After all feminism blames men for everything and here are the results of female dominance...

If 8 out of 10 schools are getting good or outstanding why is that not a headline? That would be positive & when the next Pisa comes out & shows no improvement the government would be made to look st**id because the 8 out of 10 schools are good or outstanding is bull*****just like much of what Ofsted say. Ofsted are a political tool used to show progress to the electorate & win votes. Their comments, inspections & judgements are utterly, utterly worthless. Wilshaw was just on radio 4 and he seemed to reject the proposal that parents have any responsibility for their children's attitude to learning and behaviour, preferring to point out that Head teachers 'have tremendous powers to set the culture'. This wilful blindness is what has hindered the progress of too many students in mainstream state schools for too long. According to Ofsted's chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, inspectors of the so-called Trojan Horse schools in Birmingham have found that pupils were "vulnerable to extremism" and that some had been targeted by hard line Muslim governors in a 'planned and orchestrated' plot to radicalise pupils. The truth of the matter is that 7/7 bombers were never educated in a Muslim school. They are the product of the British schooling, which makes a man st**id, selfish and corrupt. It is the saying of Lord Burtend Russell. They were mis-educated and de-educated by state schools with non-Muslim teachers.

Don`t forget these Trojan Horse schools had excellent ratings from OFSTED , so what will change? Where these schools are situated often have religious community support after school activities, also, school governors are likely to come from the religious and social leaders of these communities, how will you stop their influence?? Twenty leading educationalists and Muslim leaders have questioned Ofsted's impartiality in the Birmingham 'Trojan Horse' affair, education consultant Robin Richardson reflects on the factors behind its controversial recent inspections.

The Trojan Horse story in Birmingham is one in which carelessness, incompetence, coincidence, opportunism, self-interest and sheer wickedness all play significant parts. The dominant narrative began to be public when the security correspondent at the Sunday Times provided on 2 March 2014 some quotations from a document which he claimed had been written by a Muslim in Birmingham for sending to a Muslim in Bradford. It was obvious from the quotations to any reasonable person with time and inclination to think about it that the document was a forgery, a false flag operation. It was not, alas, obvious to journalists in the mainstream media, including to its shame the Guardian.

Western media and politicians have been trying their best to propagate against Muslim schools. Muslim schools are even called Osama bin Laden Academies by a Teaching Union. Only less than 5% of Muslim children attend Muslim schools while more than 95% are in state schools to be mis-educated and de-educated by non-Muslim monolingual teachers. The demand for state funded Muslim schools is in accordance with the law of the land. Muslim community is not asking for any favour. State schools get appalling Ofsted reports as well. There will be good and bad state schools and good and bad free schools. Muslim Girls school tops state school rankings in Blackburn. Yet, the only news we get is about a failing school in Derby.

The problem is the Islamification of schools through the sheer weight of numbers of Muslims in them. Attitudes to gays and terrorism may be some kind of litmus test for such Islamification but Ofsted seem to have approached this in a clumsy and insensitive way. The elephant in the room is that if you have a school full of Muslims then it is always going to be an Islamist school. It's too late to avoid that now. Islam outlaws homosexuality. It's perfectly reasonable to ensure children forced into a religion and a religious school by their parents are educated and accepting, and generally set up to become good citizens. It's also reasonable to suspect a Muslim school, wouldn't encourage acceptance of homosexuality, or discourage playground negativity towards it.

Six Muslim schools in London�s Tower Hamlets region have recently been accused of exposing their pupils to �serious risk� of �extremist influences and radicalisation�, Sir. Michael Wilshaw says. The head of Ofsted and Chief Inspector of Schools claims these independent institutions focus far too heavily on Islamic teaching, ignoring the core modules of the National Curriculum and under preparing their students for a life in modern Britain. Although many staff within these schools called Ofsted�s accusations �unprofessional�, the Education Secretary has threatened that unless they alter their academic focus, these primary and secondary schools � many of whom have since lost their �outstanding� academic status previously awarded by Ofsted � will be closed.

This investigation into independent Muslim institutions comes in the wake of the Birmingham schools �Trojan Horse� incident of earlier this year, where five Muslim schools were accused of encouraging a �hard-line Islamist takeover� and subjected to unannounced inspection by Ofsted. In a similar case, Wilshaw claims that the schools in Tower Hamlets focus solely on Islamist teachings, ignoring subjects such as art, music and drama and as such, exposing their vulnerable pupils to �extremist influences and radicalisation�.

This is simply not the case, however, and to suggest that Muslim institutions specialising in Islamic teachings are radical and extremist is more over, a sweeping mis-judgment; one that is unfortunately no doubt shaped by the influx of information concerning certain terrorist organisations ISIS and Boko Haram within our media.

In many instances Muslim schools have raised the standard for pupils within the community, creating a safe and approachable environment for families who care not only about their children�s education, but their religious beliefs and continuation of cultural practices and morals. Since 2004 the national average of Muslims achieving a GCSE A*- C grade has increased drastically with the development of these schools, with pass rate figures rising from 25-30% for both boys and girls in parts of England, to 100% in particular Islamic institutions. The Brondesbury College for Boys in Brent is one such example, whose GCSE pass rates are 46% higher than England�s national average.

Muslim Schools are therefore setting the standards of all-round excellence and nurturing a new generation of high achievers throughout the country; allowing their pupils to excel in subjects beyond the schools� Islamic focus. The number of Muslim schools, along with their successful pass rates, thus provide Britain with young educated Muslims, who will in turn, be in a better position to contribute towards Britain in primary fields of work.

Furthermore, if we look at the subjects offered by each of the six accused Muslim private schools, we notice that they do offer a variety of subjects which are not all solely based on Islamic teachings. Therefore the argument about not providing a broad and balanced curriculum is inaccurate.
IA
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk