'British schools where girls must wear the Islamic veil '

The Telegraph has a report that 'Hundreds of girls are bring forced by British schools to wear the Islamic veil in a move which has been heavily criticised by mainstream Muslims.' It's an interesting and worrying report, here's an extract:

'Islamic schools have introduced uniform policies which force girls to wear the burka or a full headscarf and veil known as the niqab.

Moderate followers of Islam said yesterday that enforcement of the veil was a "dangerous precedent" and that children attending such schools were being "brainwashed". '

However there were two other bits in the report that worried me even more than the forced wearing of the Islamic veil. The first is 'its (the Madani Girls' School) website adds: "If parents are approached by the Education Department regarding their child's education, they should not disclose any information without discussing it with the committee." What the school so worried about, what might parents say that could embarrass the school? Maybe parents might tell the education department what is really going on in the school rather than what the school tells the eduction department.

The second bit that worried me was this:

'Madani Girls' School, which is a listed as a private limited company and was removed from the Charity Commission's records at the end of last year, was visited by Ofsted in 2008 but the inspectorate's report makes no mention of the strict uniform code.

It rated the school's overall performance as "satisfactory" but noted that "the history curriculum is limited to Islamic history in Key Stage 3"'

If the history curiculum is restricted to Islamic history then how are pupils meant to integrate with the rest of Britain, or are they not meant to?

The third bit that struck me was this:

'Conservative councillors have accused Labour-controlled Tower Hamlets council of subsidising Madani Girls' School by selling the school its current premises for £320,000 below market value.

In late 2008 the council agreed to sell the Victorian building, previously Grenfell Primary School, to Madani's trustees for £1.33 million even though a valuation at the time said it was worth £1.65 million.

At the time there were plans to turn Madani into a state-funded Muslim school, one of only a handful in Britain.

The sale of the site was presented to councillors as the "next significant step" towards the school obtaining voluntary aided status. These plans have now stalled, according to the council.

Councillors were advised to allow the sale at a loss because the price had been agreed in 2004 when it represented a fair market value.

The deal had been delayed by four years because the school needed to raise funds, but council chiefs wanted to honour the originally-agreed figure.

However, council minutes from December 2008 show that Tim Archer, a Tory councillor, warned that "a council asset was being sold below market value and public money was being used to subsidise the purchase".'

Tower Hamlets council's ruling Labour party have many questions to answer and this should be added to the list.


The final bit that struck me was this:

'Madani, which has 260 pupils, charges fees of £1,900 a year. Its website states: "All payments should be made in cash. We do not accept cheques."'

That sounds a little odd. why might a school want school fees paid only in cash? My mind is racing...