Ofsted has admitted it failed to properly inspect a school run by a conservative Muslim sect because the inspector was “prohibited” from talking to pupils or staff.
The inspector’s report into child safety at the private Zakaria Muslim Girls’ High School in Batley claimed celebrations for an Islamic festival meant he could only speak to senior managers.
The school, which disputes Ofsted’s claim that it prevented access to pupils, is one of three facing further action from authorities following investigations by Sky News into the secretive Deobandi sect.
Deobandis, many of whom shun contact with non-Muslims, are thought to control around half of Britain’s private Islamic schools.
Ofsted’s published report on the Batley school dated October 2015 stated: “It was not possible to talk to students during this visit as they and the staff were celebrating the festival of Eid.”
The education watchdog now says it has taken “appropriate action” against the inspector concerned and has re-inspected the school, which teaches 149 girls aged 11 to 16.
The error came to light following Sky News investigations into Deobandi-run schools in the area including the Islamic Institute of Education and the Islamic Tarbiyah Centre, both in Dewsbury.
The Islamic Institute and the Zakaria school are both controlled by Shabbir Daji, an elder of the Deobandi missionary group Tablighi Jamaat which is based at Dewsbury’s Markazi mosque.
The Islamic Institute was re-inspected by Ofsted and rated ‘Inadequate’ after Sky News revealed inspectors had failed to challenge its strict Sharia code.
The Islamic Tarbiyah Centre, run by an unconnected senior Deobandi cleric, is now under investigation by the Department for Education over its promotion of an extreme form of Islam.
In a letter to Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake, who raised concerns about Ofsted’s inspections of the sect’s schools, the watchdog said not talking to children at the Batley school was “a mistake”.
Ofsted’s National Director of Education, Sean Harford, wrote: “The inspector did not challenge the school when they stated they were celebrating Eid and prohibited him from talking to pupils.”
He went on: “There is no Ofsted guidance or protocol to state that inspectors will not talk to pupils during the observance of any religious festivals.”
Ofsted downgraded the the Islamic Institute in Dewsbury from ‘Good’ to ‘inadequate’ after Sky News uncovered documents last year telling boys they could be expelled for mixing with outsiders, and banning them from watching TV or reading newspapers.
A Freedom of Information request in March asking Ofsted what follow-up action was being taken was rejected because it “would be likely to harm the ongoing regulatory processes”.
But in his letter to the MP, Mr Harford said the Department for Education had commissioned a “monitoring inspection to review (the Institute’s) progress”.
The ongoing probe into the Islamic Tarbiyah Academy, which teaches primary school children in the evening, was launched after Sky News revealed it was handing out leaflets claiming Jews are engaged in a conspiracy to take over the world and that adopting British customs is forbidden.
No one from any of the three schools agreed to be interviewed, saying they do not talk to the media.