'Teach British values in schools to prevent pupils from going to Syria,' says chief inspector of schools

Schools must teach British values to stop them joining Isis

Pupils in a classroom at a school in south Wales
Some are concerned over the impact of rising pupil numbers Credit: Photo: Alamy

Schools must teach British values to stop them joining Isis, Sir Michael Wilshaw, the chief inspector of schools has said.

In his view, teaching pupils at school about the value of tolerance and understanding and the importance of other faiths.

In the wake of the alleged "Trojan Horse" plot to impose extremist Islamic views in schools, teachers were told to place British values at the heart of the curriculum.

However, there have been calls from teachers unions to ignore new rules because they are seen as a disproportionate response to tackle extremism at schools.

But, speaking to LBC Radio, Sir Michael said: "We are inspecting against British values at the moment.

"When this was introduced by the government, people said to me: is this an extra burden on Ofsted and your HMI and inspectors and I said no.

"It’s one of the most things that we do. It’s really important that all schools whether they are faith or non-faith schools, whether in monocultural communities or not, teach British values: the importance of tolerance, the importance of understanding other cultures and other faiths.

"And if they don’t do that and they don’t promote tolerance, then we will mark them down and we will fail them as we have done in some cases."

There are now over 90,000 extra pupils per year

He added:"If you cast your mind back to the Birmingham schools, they were preaching intolerance to those youngsters in those communities and we failed them as a result fo that.

"It’s quite easy actually for inspectors to go in and say: are you teaching about the predominant faith in your school and others?

"Are you teaching about the importance of tolerating other people and other cultures? Are you doing it through your RE lessons?

"Are you doing it through your PSHE programmes? You can tell very quickly whether a school is doing that or not and if they’re not doing that, they’re going to fail an Ofsted inspection.’

He added: "They need to believe that there is hope for them, that the education system is there for them, that they will do well in their examinations, that they will be able to get a job and they will have a real strong and secure future in this country and that they will be appreciated by society. If they don’t’ believe that then the temptation is to listen to the voices that say come across to Syria."