Teachers told to spy on five year old Muslim pupils

http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/paper/index.php?article=3737

Teachers told to spy on five year old Muslim pupils

By Hamed Chapman

New controversial guidelines issued by Schools Secretary Ed Balls as part of the Government’s “de-radicalisation” strategy have been greeted with a certain amount of caution and cynicism from teachers and Muslims alike.

Balls insisted that the strategy was “not about teachers monitoring pupils” but was a toolkit to provide more practical advice to teachers on how to support vulnerable pupils, working alongside other local partners and community organisations. “We need to address the underlying issues that can drive people into the hands of violent extremist groups and encourage local communities to come together to expose the flaws in extremists’ arguments, to reject cruelty and violence and promote our core British values of tolerance, liberty, fairness and respect of the rule of law,” he said.

Teachers are being asked under the guidelines to extend their ‘in loco parentis’ responsibilities to monitoring whether pupils in their charge are developing extreme views and informing the authorities, including the police, where there are concerns. It comes after similar guidance was sent to local authorities in June that also dismisses such issues as foreign policy, discrimination or racism, and even counterterrorism measures themselves, as contributing factors.