Waseem Yaqub, who served as chairman of the governing body for Birmingham-based Al-Hijrah school, was banned for engaging in conduct that made him “unsuitable to take part in the management of an independent school”.
The Department of Education (DfE) issued a notice which read, “A direction was given in respect of Waseem Yaqub on 2 August 2017.
“The Secretary of State found that Waseem Yaqub had engaged in conduct that is so inappropriate that, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, it makes a person unsuitable to take part in the management of an independent school and that because of that conduct he was unsuitable to take part in the management of an independent school (including an academy or Free School).
“The barring decision also has the effect of disqualifying the person from being a governor at a maintained school.”
The notice goes on to say, “In his various roles on Al-Hijrah’s Governing Body, Mr Yaqub promoted, permitted or failed to challenge inadequate financial monitoring and decision-making on the part of the governing body.
“When an Interim Executive Board was appointed in June 2014, Mr Yaqub engaged in unlawful conduct designed to prevent its members from performing their lawful functions.”
Mr Yaqub may appeal against the direction to the First Tier Tribunal within three months of being informed of the Department’s decision.
Al-Hijrah School was placed into special measures following an inspection in December 2013 but has failed to improve with a rating of ‘inadequate’ being delivered by Ofsted after a review in March this year.
