The trustees at the centre of the Trojan Horse school controversy have resigned en masse in protest at a “coordinated and vicious” offensive led by the outgoing education secretary Michael Gove.
The chairman of Park View Educational Trust, Tahir Alam, said the ability of the trust’s three schools to educate their pupils was “at risk of being seriously compromised” as he announced the mass resignation.
Speaking outside the gates of Park View academy in Birmingham, Alam accused Gove of being the driving force behind months of unfair scrutiny which he said had brought the school’s proud reputation “to the point of destruction”.
Park View was one of five mainly Muslim schools in Birmingham placed in special measures last month following Ofsted investigations sparked by allegations of a takeover plot by hardline Islamists, which became known as the Trojan horse plot.
Alam said: “We believe strongly that we have justice on our side, and we know we have the support of many from within and outside Birmingham, including our students, parents and members of staff.
“However, we are not prepared to subject our school communities to the further period of intense and bitter pressure that our continuing as members of Park View Educational Trust will see them face.
“And it is for this reason, and with a deep sense of injustice and sadness, that today we are announcing our intention to resign our positions at Park View Educational Trust and allow new people to assume responsibility with the aim of continuing the success of our schools.”
Alam insisted that he and his trustees were proud of the work they had done to turn around Parkview Academy, Nansen Primary and Golden Hillock School, at a time when “no one much cared about the young people of east Birmingham when their schools were failing them for decades”.
Addressing the television cameras beside a small clutch of his colleagues, Alam complained that they had been on the receiving end of a “coordinated and vicious” attack led by Gove and said his “profound mistrust of Islam is a matter of public record”.
He said: “The deep mistrust at the very heart of government has created a fertile environment for suspicion to grow and for innuendo and rumour to fester.”
Alam welcomed David Cameron‘s decision to move Gove from the education department, where he ordered several snap investigations into the Trojan horse allegations, to chief whip as part of the prime minister’s cabinet reshuffle.
Alam said Gove’s “demotion today provides us with some reassurance that the prime minister has finally acknowledged the profound damage that has been caused by his divisive approach”.
Alam called on the new education secretary, Nicky Morgan, to urgently consider removing the head of Ofsted, Sir Michael Wilshaw, from his position for what he called his “role in this fiasco”.
Wilshaw told MPs last month that Ofsted inspectors found no evidence that children had been radicalised at the schools, but said they saw a “promotion of a culture” that would expose children to extremism had it continued. He said that staff at five of the Birmingham schools were bullied by governors who promoted their own views.
Alam acknowledged there had been genuine concerns by current staff, but said these had been blown out of all proportion by an atmosphere of “innuendo and rumour”. The government’s decision to put the schools under unfair scrutiny sent a message to the Muslim community that seemed clear, he said. “You may choose to come to these schools, but you are not to be trusted to play any part in decision making about how they are run,” he added.
The Park View Educational Trust is the second governing body to resign in protest at the way their school has been treated over the Trojan horse saga, following the mass resignation of Satley school’s governors last month.
The Department of Education said: “We are aware of the decision of the Park View Educational Trust to stand down. There will be three outstanding heads on the trust, whose immediate task for the new trustees will be to address the areas for improvement raised by the EFA and Ofsted reports and move it towards a successful sponsor.”