Britain’s problem with illegal Islamic private schools

While some in Britain are understandably anxious about the Taliban’s rapid takeover of Afghanistan and the prospect of the Central Asian country becoming an international jihadist training ground, long-standing domestic problems concerning religious radicalism continue to persist.

The issue of unregistered private schools in British Muslim communities is one of them. This has been thrust into the limelight yet again after a headteacher was warned that she faces a prison term after continuing to run an illegal Islamic private school – in defiance of a previous conviction. Nadia Ali, 40, ran the Ambassadors High School in Streatham, South London, for over half a year after being sentenced to community service for operating the unregistered school. The institution, which charged £2,500 a year and had in the region of 45 pupils, was previously found to have major safeguarding issues.

The Ambassadors High School’s record-keeping of student admissions and attendance was considered to be poor, with its leading figures failing to conduct the most elementary of suitability checks on teachers.