The British government has vowed to step up its crackdown on “illegal schools” that fail to teach “British values” and basic skills and risk leaving many youngsters “segregated” from mainstream society.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi confirmed that the government will introduce new legislation and grant “stronger powers” to the schools watchdog Ofsted to tackle illegal unregistered schools and prevent vulnerable children from “falling through the cracks.”
Amanda Spielman, Ofsted’s chief inspector, told The Sunday Times that such a crackdown is necessary because these illegal schools fail to equip children with “British values,” basic numeracy and literacy skills, and leave many youngsters “very segregated” from mainstream society.
She said extremist materials have been found in some of these schools, “exposing children to messages that are just contrary to British values.”
In one school that was successfully prosecuted, books were found by an author banned from entering the UK for his extremist views. Another school was found to have been run by members of a proscribed group.
According to The Sunday Times, a quarter of the suspected illegal schools inspected by Ofsted have been religious, but the real proportion is expected to be higher. Among these, just over half were Islamic, a quarter Jewish, and a quarter Christian.
Talking to Times Radio on April 11, Spielman estimated that “tens of thousands” of children are being educated in unregistered establishments, but to date only five schools have been prosecuted for operating illegally.
She said currently Ofsted cannot collect evidence and inspect what appear to be unregistered schools, “unless people choose to let us do so,” and that the inspectorate has “limited powers” to ask for police assistance.
She said such schools are often run by people from “very separate communities.”
“Children in these schools are often growing up simply ignorant of so much that we expect all children to know to be able to fit into British society as adults, to have enough knowledge of the world around them, and to be able to make the adult choices that we all have to make about how we want to live our adult lives,” she said.
Zahawi said that though many home educating families do “a fantastic job,” there are still “too many children falling through the cracks, at risk of harm in unsafe settings like illegal unregistered schools.”
“That’s why we will be introducing new legislation requiring councils to maintain a register of children who are not in school, helping eliminate the concept of ‘ghost children,’ alongside stronger powers for Ofsted to crackdown on illegal schools and ensure the criminals who are running them face prosecution.”
