Angry in the Great White North

From the Daily Mail:

A hardline Muslim teacher who caused a furore by denouncing pupils for celebrating Christmas has been made a Government schools inspector.

Israr Khan's Ofsted appointment was described by a former colleague as 'absolutely astonishing'.

Mr Khan, now headmaster of an Islamic school, launched into his tirade during a concert rehearsal at Washwood Heath Secondary School in Birmingham in 1996 after the choir including around 40 Muslim youngsters, had sung a number of popular Christmas songs, including carols.

He leapt from his seat, yelling: "Who is your God? Why are you saying Jesus and Jesus Christ? God is not your God - it is Allah."

As children in the audience began booing and clapping, a number of choir members - both white and Asian - walked out, some in tears.

Clearly a bizarre choice, right?

A former Washwood Heath colleague laughed openly when told of Mr Khan's role as an Ofsted inspector where he has the responsibility for passing or failing schools.

He said: "Given the man's history, it's absolutely astonishing. It's just the cheek of the man that he's been able to reach that position. He always was an extremely clever man.

"He gave me many insights into the Islamic cause and their hatred of the US and the Western World. He had a big support base among some of the Muslim parents.

"But there were some very influential, radical elements at Washwood Heath at that time and Israr Khan was very close to all that."

What is Ofsted?

The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial government department, established in 1993 under the Education (Schools) Act 1992. It is responsible for inspecting the standards of independent and state schools, local education authorities, child day care and childminding in England; it also monitors the work of the Independent Schools Inspectorate. Ofsted is also required to provide independent advice to the United Kingdom government and parliament on matters of policy and to publish an annual report to parliament on the quality of educational provision in England.

What does the inspection cover, exactly?

Under this system the senior leadership of each school are required to complete a Self Evaluation Form (SEF) on a continual basis, which requires them to be aware of strengths and areas for development. Inspections are generally every three years with a key focus on the 'central nervous system' of the school - examining how well the school is managed, and what processes are in place to ensure standards of teaching and learning improve; the school leadership and management are expected to be aware of everything in the SEF. A school's performance is judged by the accuracy of self-evaluation combined with evidence and strategic policies for development and improvement.

So the inspector does not evaluate the students or the curriculum. The inspector evaluates whether the school is being managed effectively, based on the management plans and goals set by the school, not by the inspector and not according to his opinion on what the school should be doing. It is essentially an audit.

So is al-Grinch's appointment to this post an example that can be used to show that England is being overrun by the forces of radical Islam, and that the defence of the realm fatally has been compromised by political correctness and multiculturalism? To me it's not clear that this is one of those cases. Khan's past makes him an easy target. Given the parameters of the job, though, and what assurances Khan might have given Ofsted, he might be actually be a good pick for the position.

Clearly he's not worried about offending people. That's probably a good thing for an inspector.

In any case, it's easy to raise a hue-and-cry every time a religious conservative is in a position of responsibility, especially a Muslim conservative. As a conservative committed to freedom of religion (as opposed to the leftist creed of freedom from religion), I need to make a better effort of evaluating each case on its merits. But then maybe I'm just losing my edge in my old age.