MPs are to quiz Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector of schools in England, about her controversial backing for a ban on girls wearing the hijab, following complaints from Muslim community leaders.
Parliament’s education select committee will question Spielman, the head of Ofsted, next month over her vocal support for a primary school in east London that barred girls under eight from wearing the headscarf – a move the school’s headteacher swiftly reversed after complaints from parents.
It has emerged that the head who introduced the ban, Neena Lall, of St Stephen’s primary school in Newham, has publicly apologised to parents at the school, calling the decision a “huge error in judgment”.