courtBy Aditi KhannaLondon, Oct 13 (PTI) An Islamic school's policy ofsegregating boys and girls in classrooms has been ruledunlawful by a court panel in the UK today.
A three-judge bench of the Court of Appeal in Londonruled that the policy of Al-Hijrah school in Birmingham ofcompulsory segregation from Class 5 onwards caused detrimentand less favourable treatment for both male and female pupilsby reason of their sex, and was contrary to the UK's 2010Equality Act.
The ruling will have an impact on other faith schoolsthat follow similar policies in Britain.
In a test case ruling, the master of the rolls, SirTerence Etherton, Lady Justice Gloster and Lord JusticeBeatson unanimously allowed a challenge by the UK's schoolswatchdog Ofsted against a previous High Court ruling in favourof the school.
"Ofsted's job is to make sure that all schools properlyprepare children for life in modern Britain. Educationalinstitutions should never treat pupils less favourably becauseof their sex, or for any other reason," said Amanda Spielman,the Ofsted chair who had launched the appeal against theschool.
"The school is teaching boys and girls entirelyseparately, making them walk down separate corridors, andkeeping them apart at all times. This is discrimination and iswrong. It places these boys and girls at a disadvantage forlife beyond the classroom and the workplace, and fails toprepare them for life in modern Britain," she said.
After an inspection last year, Ofsted had ruled that Al-Hijrah was "inadequate" and it was put in "special measures",saying its policy of separating the sexes was discriminationunder the 2010 Equality Act.
In November, a High Court judge had overruled theinspectors, saying that they had taken an "erroneous" view onan issue "of considerable public importance".
But in the Court of Appeal ruling, the judges rebuked theUK government and Ofsted for failing to identify the problemearlier and directed that other schools operating similarlyshould be given time "to put their houses in order".
Around 20 other schools of Islamic, Jewish and Christiandenomination are believed to have similar segregation policiesin the country, which will now have to be reviewed.
"This case involves issues of real public interest, andhas significant implications for gender equality, Ofsted,government, and the wider education sector. We will beconsidering the ruling carefully to understand how this willaffect future inspections," Ofsted chief Spielman said.
During the appeal hearing, Al-Hijrah's interim executiveboard had claimed that boys and girls at the school weretreated entirely equally despite the segregation, which wasattributed to religious reasons.
The school, which is part funded by the state and haspupils aged between four and 16, has complete segregation ofboys and girls from ages nine to 16 for all lessons, breaks,school clubs and trips. PTI AK AMS AKJAMS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.