This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/education/8379070.stm

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Islamic school funds investigated 'Extremist' row over school funds
(about 2 hours later)
Schools Secretary Ed Balls has rejected claims of any "inappropriate use of public funds" in payments to two independent Muslim schools. A political row has broken out over claims public money was given to two schools which, the Tories say, have links to Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Conservative leader David Cameron had asked the prime minister to examine the funding of schools which he claimed had links to a radical Islamic group. Tory leader David Cameron suggested money from an "anti-extremist fund" had been given to "extremists".
"Where there is abuse it will be investigated," Mr Brown replied. But Schools Secretary Ed Balls accused the Conservatives of "playing politics" and making "untrue" allegations.
But Mr Balls says there is no evidence either of the schools, in Haringey and Slough, do not meet required standards. Hizb ut-Tahrir said it did not run any school and accused Mr Cameron of "bare-faced lies".
"We take the issue of ensuring there is no extremist teaching in both maintained and independent schools very seriously," says Mr Balls. The row began at prime minister's questions on Wednesday when Mr Cameron accused the government of allowing the funding of extremism.
Mr Balls also highlighted the fact that the Islamic group at the centre of the allegation, Hizb ut-Tahrir, was not a banned organisation. 'Anti-extremist fund'
Funding He said two schools had been established by "an extremist Islamist foundation" which he said was a "front" for Hizb ut-Tahrir - a legal organisation that former PM Tony Blair had said he would ban.
Mr Cameron, speaking in the House of Commons, had accused the government of allowing the funding of extremism. Mr Cameron asked Prime Minister Gordon Brown: "How can you have an anti-extremist fund that results in a Labour local authority handing out money to extremists?"
"How can you have an anti-extremist fund that results in a Labour local authority handing out money to extremists?"
"They have secured a total of £113,000 of government money, some of which was from the Pathfinder scheme, whose objective is meant to be preventing violent extremism.""They have secured a total of £113,000 of government money, some of which was from the Pathfinder scheme, whose objective is meant to be preventing violent extremism."
In response, Mr Brown promised to examine this "very, very carefully". There is no evidence at all of extremist activity, they are inspected, they are properly registered, as far as we are aware they are using public money properly Ed BallsSchools secretary
Mr Cameron said the Conservatives had been seeking replies from the government over funds given to the two schools, run by the Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation. Mr Brown said he would look "very carefully" at the allegations. But later Mr Balls said the Tories were wrong in their claims that the schools had not be inspected by Ofsted and were not registered.
'No evidence' He also said Mr Cameron was wrong to suggest they had been given money from the Pathfinder scheme.
In a letter, the Conservative schools spokesman, Michael Gove, had asked about alleged links between the schools, the Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation, and Hizb ut-Tahrir. He told BBC Radio 4's PM programme that both Slough and Haringey local authorities, where the schools are based, had told him "categorically" that "the only funding they've received is for the care of three and four year old nursery care".
He also claimed he could find no record the schools were properly registered or had been inspected by Ofsted. He said both were inspected at his request in 2007 when concerns were first raised and were "registered on a publicly available website".
In reply, Mr Balls gave links to the published registration entries and gave details of Ofsted's reports. 'Genuinely worrying'
He said both schools had been inspected in 2007 and found to be meeting "the independent school standard for the spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development of pupils". He added: "There is no evidence at all of extremist activity, they are inspected, they are properly registered, as far as we are aware they are using public money properly."
He added: "In those and subsequent inspections, no evidence has been found to support allegations that the schools are teaching anti-Semitic or anti-Western values." He said: "I think David Cameron and [shadow schools secretary] Michael Gove have made a massive misjudgement today... to play politics when you don't know the facts is a very very dangerous thing to do and I think that's what they've done today."
Nor was there any evidence the schools were using public funding to "further radical Islamist aims" as Mr Gove had alleged. But Mr Gove told the BBC: "We know that they have received public funding and we know that the charity concerned has links with Hizb ut-Tahrir."
'Links' He added: "It seems to be genuinely worrying."
Haringey council has said that funding for one of these schools has been suspended, pending an investigation. Haringey Council said it launched an investigation into claims about the school in its area on 26 October and funding had been suspended pending the outcome.
But so far the council said that "no evidence was found to suggest inappropriate content or influence in the school". Our school is being used as part of a wider political agenda and this type of vilification of the Muslim community needs to stop Farah Ahmed Head teacher
It also reports that the school has written to the council to say it "no longer has any links with any of the individuals who are alleged to have connections with Hizb ut-Tahrir". But a spokesman said "no evidence was found to suggest inappropriate content or influence in the school" and it had told them "that it no longer has any links with any of the individuals who are alleged to have connections with Hizb ut-Tahrir".
"We are waiting for evidence from the school that the reported connections have been completely severed," says a statement from the council. "We are waiting for evidence from the school that the reported connections have been completely severed," he said.
In the Commons the Conservative leader also challenged Mr Brown as to why he had not banned Hizb ut-Tahrir, which describes itself as a "global Islamic political organisation". Meanwhile the head teacher of the school in Slough, Farah Ahmed, said: "Our school is being used as part of a wider political agenda and this type of vilification of the Muslim community needs to stop."
Mr Brown said that "proscription should be on the basis of evidence, that was clearly proven, about advocating violence". She added: "We would expect politicians to check the accuracy of the information they receive before using it. No-one from the Conservative Party has contacted the school to verify information."
"That is the position that both parties accepted. That is the position we will continue to follow." In 2005 Tony Blair suggested he would ban the Islamist organisation, but later dropped the idea.
The group denies links to terrorism and says it opposes violence, but does campaign for an Islamic state across the Middle East.
In a statement it accused Mr Cameron of "baseless allegations" and said it never accepted funding from government.
Spokesman Taji Mustafa said it was a political party that did not run schools, adding: "David Cameron's bare faced lies that Hizb ut-Tahrir runs schools, receives government funding and promotes hatred and violence are another desperate attempt to boost Conservative poll ratings."
In the Commons the Conservative leader also asked Mr Brown why the group had not been banned. Mr Brown said that "proscription should be on the basis of evidence, that was clearly proven, about advocating violence".