fbpx
Search Donate

Show results for
  • News
  • Videos
  • Action Alerts
  • Events
  • Resources
  • MEND

Education Secretary calls for ‘robust’ defence of liberal values

Education Secretary calls for ‘robust’ defence of liberal values

Categories: Latest News

Tuesday July 08 2014

The Guardian, The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, and BBC News report on Education Secretary Michael Gove’s appearance on BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday to discuss ‘Islamist extremism’ in particularly in education.

It follows the saga of the so-called “Trojan horse” plot to take over schools in Birmingham.

Gove urged for a “robust” defence of liberal values to challenge ‘Islamist extremists’ by denying a platform in schools and other public institutions.

He expressed that there is a need to challenge views that are “inimical to liberal values” by removing opportunities from those who hold such views to “use public money or the public square in order to push their views.”

Gove further clarified on the programme that it was important “to draw a distinction between deep religious faith, the conservative expression of that religious faith, and extremism”.

Gove stated that it is important that “schools, all schools, should prepare children for life in modern Britain so it is perfectly possible, and indeed legitimate for someone to hold deeply religiously conservative views and for us to respect their freedom to do so in a modern society but think that person to be inappropriate as a proprietor of a school or certainly it would be wrong for that individual to disseminate those views in the classroom.

“But it is also possible that individual with those views, well we think they would be the wrong person to be a teacher or a headteacher, could hold those views and not be someone who is going to lead anyone on the path of terror.

“It is really critical we recognise that Islam is a great faith, which brings spiritual nourishment to Muslims. It inspires daily acts of generosity on the parts of so many of our fellow citizens.”

While he attempts to draw a ‘distinction’ between conservative religious views and extremism and praises the contributions of Muslims, Gove nonetheless seems to indicate that individuals with conservative views can lead others to extremism and thereby losing any sense of distinction.

His remarks are strikingly discriminatory towards education professionals who hold religious conservative beliefs. He gives no consideration to the fact that conservative expression of religious faith is a key component of faith schools including Catholic and other Christian schools. Indeed, Sir Tim Brighouse, in a comment piece published in The Guardian newspaper highlighted the blatant discrimination shown towards Muslim faith schools alluding to ethos he had witnessed preached in Catholic faith schools which were not too dissimilar to the conservatism displayed by certain Muslim faith schools.

Peter Wilby, in remarks on the ‘Trojan Horse’ affair published in the New Statesman a few weeks ago pointed to the disparity in treatment over the place of faith schools stating, “The authorities judge, perhaps rightly, that strict Islamic faith schools would not be compatible with a multicultural society. Why are they not equally concerned about strict Catholic schools, ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools and the growing number of schools that have strong evangelical influences?”

When one considers Gove’s list of “British” values that need to be promoted in schools in particularly “democracy, equality and tolerance of different faiths, religions and other beliefs”, one wonders what premium is placed on tolerance for those who subscribe to religious conservatism? In a statement issued by the Muslim Council of Britain, the likely discrimination to ensue against those who hold to conservative religious views is made patently clear.

Furthermore, Gove’s call for a defence of liberal values by denying those who hold contrary views the opportunity to use public platforms to air such views is hardly in keeping with the spirit of liberal democracy. As the Deputy PM Nick Clegg once said, “Muscular liberals flex their muscles in open argument.”

Shutting off avenues to free discussion of controversial issues hardly seems a mature way to deal with detractors. It also appears to conflict with the recommendations of the Taskforce on Tackling Radicalisation which speaks of a “public communications platform to allow communities to bring to life the success of integration and challenge the extremist worldview”.

Gove additionally defined “Islamism” as “a perversion of Islam in the same way that communism was a perversion of socialism and fascism is a perversion of nationalism.”

His remarks are similar to the words used in the Taskforce on Tackling Radicalisation report which argues the term is a “distorted interpretation of Islam”.

Yet the definitions advanced by Gove only beg questions of coherence and rightful intervention. The definition advanced in the CONTEST counter-terrorism strategy, which speaks of “no commonly agreed definitions of ‘Islamism’ and ‘Islamist’, and groups or individuals described as Islamist often have very different aims and views about how those aims might be realised,” demurs from the certainty Gove ascribes to his definition. And the claims of the term being a “distorted interpretation of Islam” only lead to further questions of the rightful role of Government in defining what is or isn’t an ‘interpretation of Islam’.

Moreover, while Gove refers to the Ofsted’s findings as authoritative, he pays no heed to the criticisms made by educationalists against his selective intervention at the Birmingham schools calling into question Ofsted’s objectivity, professionalism and integrity.

In an open letter published in The Guardian, Birmingham community leaders announced their launch of a campaign against Gove’s selective intervention at the Birmingham schools. The campaign, Putting Birmingham School Kids First, aims “to challenge the false and divisive allegation that this is a problem of systematic radicalisation, extremism or terrorism.”

Signatories, including Labour MP Shabana Mahmood and former education commissioner Tim Brighouse, argue:

“The central allegation, that there was an organised plot to radicalise schoolchildren in a handful of Birmingham schools, remains unproven. What the Ofsted reports show is some governance issues in some schools.

“The Muslim community is no different to any other faith community in having a spectrum of opinions, from liberal to conservative, on what is the correct balance between secular and religious values in the provision of education. Instead of debating these issues openly, the government has taken the completely inappropriate approach of linking this with the prevention of terrorism.”

Newsletter

Find out more about MEND, sign up to our email newsletter

Get all the latest news from MEND straight to your inbox. Sign up to our email newsletter for regular updates and events information

reCAPTCHA