There is an article in the Guardian today about Park View academy in Birmingham where there are allegations of a "Muslim plot" to take over schools.
To me this story seems to be just another in the line of trying to muddy the waters about Muslims and to tarnish out collective reputations.
The real story? Park View Academy has managed to turn itself from a failing school where single digit figures were passing their GCSE's into a school which has become a beacon of achievement, where others want to emulate this success.
How has it done this? no, not by some trojan horse plot. It has done this by creating respect and catering for the needs of the community it served.
Who'd have thought that respecting the local community and making allowances for their needs would work wonders? (Sarcasm doesnt work on the internet, so I better clarify that that is common sense).
I remember back when at secondary school, being taught some history and other Muslim students approaching me to confirm what was being taught was accurate - I didn't know whether it was or not, but such a gulf in trust between the Muslim students and the school must have some influence on what the students learn and their grades.
It is understandable that a school will want there to be trust between the community and the teachers and to cater for their needs. The results show that this has paid off.
What is less understandable however is the hysteria about an islamist takeover of british schools and education system. As the school has stated, firstly there has been no such thing that has occurred, and any allowances made to the local community are optional.
Muslims have generally been failing in education in the UK. While there are many success stories, in general they are underserved and they underachieve. The fact that park View has turned this around should be celebrated and its secret sauce spread to other location to prevent other schools from failing their students. This should not be feared.
Back on to the topic of nefarious plots to take over schools, no one needs to create any "trojan horse" plot to take over or replace a school - the current government has created a "free schools" policy which allows different communities the ability to open their own schools to meet their needs.
There is no need to plot plan or scheme about it... well, planning would be good, but the other two are not needed.
