Education: extreme politics
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Version 0 of 1. Michael Gove, the education secretary, has decided he needs to act to root out what he believes is a Militant Tendency-style operation to radicalise Birmingham schools. Not for the first time, he is paying little attention to proper process. In his determination to justify the replacement of some governing bodies he stands accused (again) of undermining the independence of Ofsted, as schools suspected of being implicated in the so-called Operation Trojan Horse are downgraded and placed in special measures. Some educationists believe he is sacrificing the integrity of the inspectorate for political purposes. That is serious enough. But there is more. The 25 Birmingham schools under investigation have become the latest battlefield for a deeper debate within Whitehall about the relationship between extremism and terrorism which pits Michael Gove against the home secretary, Theresa May, in a very personal confrontation that proves the divide between polemicist and pragmatist can be every bit as damaging as any policy disagreement. Add in a potential leadership bid and you have all the elements needed for a potential cabinet earthquake. Mr Gove sees in Islamic extremism a breeding ground for terrorism (or, as he might phrase it, a swamp that needs draining before the crocodiles escape), a view he shares with Tony Blair and, as he set out in a speech in Munich in 2011, David Cameron. Mrs May thinks it is perfectly possible to hold extreme religious views without posing a threat to security, and is admirably sensitive to the dangers of looking like an Islamophobe by intervening in matters of faith. These are the tensions that have now erupted into the public view. Mr Gove's concerns about the governance of some of Birmingham's schools are widely shared. His department has been warned several times over the last five years of aggressive campaigns by some governors in some secondaries with the aim of making them – at the very least – more accommodating to what has become their predominantly Muslim intake. But, as we have reported, some of the schools most implicated have also seen impressive improvements in their academic results. Park View, the school at the centre of the allegations, was considered in 2012 as among the best comprehensives at GCSE in any poor borough, and the trust that runs it expanded to operate two other schools as well. At the time it was heralded as a triumph for the academy programme. Now it is regarded as a sinister development. Mr Gove's particular problem as the architect of the rapid expansion of academy status is that the independence he regards as its great strength turns out to be a weakness too. His only lever of control is a critical Ofsted inspection. He now has ultimate responsibility for more than 50% of English secondary schools, but without – as Labour has repeatedly argued – an adequate process for testing their capacity or their governance. No wonder Ofsted is feeling the pressure. But in the charges levelled against the Birmingham schools, Mr Gove seems to have identified a further opportunity. To general astonishment, in addition to the Ofsted investigations he called on the former Metropolitan police anti-terrorism commissioner Peter Clarke to review the evidence. His report is due in July. Meanwhile, Mr Gove is fortifying his defences by renewing his attack on what he sees as Home Office reluctance to tackle terrorism at source. He wants to push ahead with new regulations for religious schools or madrasas, first proposed by Mrs May's extremism taskforce. Since Mr Gove has not published his proposals, the details remain unclear. But Mrs May took the unusual step of releasing a letter to him in which she appeared to rule out a proposal for a French-style ban on the hijab in schools. There is a legitimate debate about the best way of tackling home-grown terrorism. But policing has always relied on the consent and support of the community. That has to mean cooperation, not confrontation. |