‘Trojan Horse’ Teacher Banned From Teaching Indefinitely

A head teacher at the Oldknow Academy in Birmingham received a lifetime ban from teaching over professional misconduct.

Former head teacher, Jahangir Akbar, was accused of misconduct following last year’s “Trojan Horse” controversy.

Akbar was found to have “failed to uphold public trust in the profession and maintain high standards of ethics and behaviors” during a disciplinary hearing, a report in The Guardian said.

According to investigators, Akbar exerted an unwarranted measure of religious influence over the education of students at the Oldknow Academy.

Based on findings from a panel composed of members of the National College for Teaching and Leadership, Akbar had exerted pressure on teachers who failed to share his views, while promoting those who supported them.

He also revised the school’s curriculum to eliminate sex education, segregated male and female students in a number of classrooms, and banned religious celebrations like Christmas and Diwali.

Akbar was also found to have acted inappropriately, shouting at a parent who challenged his educational views, and commenting he was glad about one of the school’s pupils being bullied.

The panel found Akbar’s behavior to be a “misconduct of a serious nature,” The Breitbart reported, which resulted in the former head teacher’s lifetime ban from teaching.

The ruling followed the “Trojan Horse” scandal related to allegations of a plot by religious extremists last year, where three Birmingham schools were put on special measures for alleged religious segregation and extremism, according to BBC News.

Ofsted inspectors were sent to schools looking for evidence of forced religious views as part of a plot by Muslim extremists.

Akbar is among the first of the “Trojan Horse” educators to be meted sanctions due to evidence of his professional misconduct.

The panel investigating his case said Akbar limited religious education and cultural influence by failing to respect students’ diverse faiths, while undermining tolerance and acting inappropriately as befitting his station as a teacher.

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Birmingham, teaching ban, Jahangir Akbar, Trojan Horse controversy, Oldknow Academy, Jahangir Akbar, regligious extremism

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