A British Muslim school governor has been banned from having any involvement with schools after being accused of ‘undermining British values’.
Tahir Alam, former chair of governors at Park View Educational Trust in Birmingham, was banned by the British Department for Education (DfE) owing to his engagement in conduct “aimed at undermining the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths or beliefs,” according to Hardip Begol, director of assessment, curriculum, qualifications and accountability at DfE.
Further, the DfE also accused Alam of promoting an intolerant and narrow faith-based ideology, imposing gender segregation among pupils for some activities and failing to treat girls and boys as equals.
Alam told the Guardian that he intended to appeal. “I have the dubious honour of being the first person to be issued with a ban of this kind by the [Department for Education] preventing me from taking part in the management of schools,” he said.
“I did my job as a governor, as a volunteer, and I did it very well in collaboration with others. I helped transform these schools into successful schools and stand by my work there,” he added.
Responding to the allegations of placing pupils “at risk of vulnerability to radicalisation”, Alam said, “All the allegations against me have been put forward on the basis of hearsay and I strongly contest them.”
The DfE has also banned Alam from being a governor in any state school and has warned, in an official letter, that any school found to be employing Alam in any management capacity, paid or unpaid, would be closed down.
In 2014, Alam had been accused of being the architect of the Trojan horse plot in anonymous letter which alleged that there was a plan to influence the educational programme in several Birmingham schools with high numbers of Muslim pupils, including Park View.
Alam had resigned the same year from Park View’s governing body but had maintained that the allegations against him were baseless. It is expected that that the DfE will formally announce its decision to ban Alam today (Wednesday).
