Former Birmingham headteacher accused of misconduct claims he just wanted ‘what’s best’ for pupils

Monzoor Hussain pleaded with panelists not to ban him from the classroom

The former headteacher of a Birmingham school linked to the alleged Trojan Horse plot said all he ever wanted “was the best for the children”.

Monzoor Husain was suspended from the position of acting principal of Park View Academy in Alum Rock in July last year after a letter emerged detailing an alleged plot dubbed ‘Operation Trojan Horse’.

Appearing to be written from one conspirator to another, the letter alleged a plot by hardline Muslims to take over governing bodies, oust staff and Islamise the curriculum. It is now widely considered that the letter was a hoax.

Mr Hussain, also referred to as ‘Moz’, is one of 13 teachers from four Birmingham schools facing disciplinary action by the National College for Teaching & Leadership (NCTL).

The schools - Park View, Oldknow Academy, Golden Hillock School, and Nansen Primary - were plunged into special measures last year following the Trojan Horse allegations.

All 13 teachers face one common allegation that they agreed to the inclusion of an undue amount of religious influence on pupils’ education. They all deny the allegations.

In his witness statement used as evidence as part of the NCTL hearing, Mr Hussain said he “has never been given a satisfactory explanation” for his suspension.

He revealed he was issued with an interim teaching ban in August last year, the same time his wages were stopped.

He added: “I was upset and couldn’t understand why this is happening when all I ever wanted was the best for all the children at the school”.

He said he finally resigned in February this year, having realised that his position was “untenable” and to allow the school to “move on”.

Mr Hussain said: “This was the most difficult decision I had to take; I envisaged retiring at Park View.

“Children at the school would ask me regularly when I would retire and I used to reply after I had taught their grandchildren.

“The only reason I decided to resign was to give stability to the children, for me it was always about the children.”

Park View has now been renamed Rockwood Academy and new headteacher Fuzel Choudhury was appointed in September.

This month Ofsted said under his new leadership it was now making effective steps to pull itself out of special measures.

However results have plummeted at the school since the Trojan Horse scandal broke, having previously had consistently over 70 per cent of pupils gaining five GCSEs grades A to C including English and maths. This summer just 55 per cent achieved the same government benchmark.

Mr Hussain said he was “saddened beyond words by the impact the Trojan Horse affair” has had on results.

“It means there are children who did not get the results they should have got,” he said. “Dreams of going to college and a better life and career put on hold, families disappointed seeing their children’s dreams not working out.”

He said he was “still trying to think what went wrong”.

And he added: “Whatever my own strengths and weaknesses I have also thought long and hard about the criticism levelled at Park View.

“Most of it remains unfounded, but the saddest part of all of this was that long before the concerns around Trojan Horse I was introducing strategies for the children to move beyond their own community and their own religion to embrace the wider world because I knew exactly how vital that was from my own personal life experience.

“I just never got the opportunity to develop that work.”

Making a direct plea to the panel at the NCTL hearing, Mr Hussain added: “I ask the panel to ignore the media and political storm of Trojan Horse and judge us simply on the evidence and what we achieved.

“How my child will perceive me when he is older and how all the children who we taught at Park View are perceived will depend on your decision.”

The hearing continues.

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