Governors emotionally harassed teacher for upholding British values
A Sikh teacher from Birmingham has claimed that he was forced out of a city school for “giving children British values”.
Balwant Bains, former head teacher of Saltley School, said that a campaign of “emotional harassment” from the school’s Muslim governors pushed him to resign from his position, leaving his near-25-year career in ruins.
The school in Birmingham is one of a handful of schools in the city which has been put under special measures after snap inspections found it to have been part of the Trojan Horse scandal in which extremists allegedly attempted to impose an “intolerant and aggressive Islamic ethos” on pupils.
The ex-head developed a “dysfunctional” relationship with the Muslim governors of the school, who planned to stop giving pupils at the school sex education lessons and also wanted to introduce solely halal meat from animals killed in line with Quranic teachings for schools meals.
However, Balwant, who was also accused of both Islamophobia and racism when he attempted to discipline a Muslim student who had threatened pupils with a knife, opposed the governor’s plans and refused to stop teaching pupils at the school British values.
He said, “I suppose I was a threat, giving these children more British values, for them to be integrated into society.”
