Educational segregation

[Clitheroekid]

I saw this report this morning where Ofsted had criticised an Islamic school for keeping the boys and girls apart - http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/?u=875 ... 6eeaba2b78.

The school had applied to the court for a judicial review of Ofsted's decision, and it may come as no surprise that the court had found in favour of the school and against Ofsted.

However, the court said "unless Ofsted could demonstrate that the segregation was deliberately discriminatory, for instance because the Islamic faith regards the female gender as inferior and/or considers that females should be prepared for a lesser role in society, its position was hopeless."

I really wouldn't have thought it should be difficult to come up with such evidence, and I can't help wondering whether Ofsted were simply too scared to adduce such evidence. If that's the case I would take the view that they are failing in their public duty to oversee educational standards and to behave entirely objectively.

It's going to appeal, and it will be interesting to see the outcome, though I very much doubt that the Appeal Court would allow Ofsted to introduce the missing evidence at such a late stage even if they were inclined to do so. If they can't adduce new evidence it's hard to see how they can hope to succeed.

[redsturgeon]

I am no supporter of faith schools of any sort and it is certainly apparent that the treatment of males and females in Islam is discriminatory.

However the fact that single gender schools exist in the UK would surely preclude any chance of a successful appeal in this case.

John

[brightncheerful]

I went to an-all boys school. The girls school which was in a different building over the road didn't have its an indoor swimming pool as the boys school did so the girls used to use ours. We boys weren't allowed anywhere near the pool when the girls were using the facilities. And vice versa.

Had I for one not been educationally segregated I might've had more chance of being able to understand how to talk with girls without looking up and down at their bodies.

[sg31]

Had I for one not been educationally segregated I might've had more chance of being able to understand how to talk with girls without looking up and down at their bodies.

How tall are you?

[CatcheeMonkee]

Had I for one not been educationally segregated I might've had more chance of being able to understand how to talk with girls without looking up and down at their bodies.

Hasn't it been generally accepted that boys do better in mixed schools and girls do better in girls' schools?? Make of that what you will!

[UncleEbenezer]

Hasn't it been generally accepted that boys do better in mixed schools and girls do better in girls' schools?? Make of that what you will!

Generally accepted? Or fragments of evidence from a study or two?

Single-sex schools are unusual. That perhaps biases their intakes and maybe their funding.
Boys schools in particular have some very strange traditions.

Combine those two and you can extract an explanation for your observation. Pure speculation of course: it would take another big study to test it as a hypothesis.

In general, "faith schools" are surely the worst of all educational innovations of recent times. Bring up new generations to see the world as "us and them", both perfectly naturally and (if they think about it) institutionally. Northern Ireland's Catholic/Protestant history on steroids.