London Islamic school targeted in raid shut down
ReutersThe government said on Friday it was shutting down an Islamic school that was searched in anti-terrorism raids last year, and was investigating another accused of having textbooks that insulted Christians and Jews.
The Department for Education and Skills said the Jameah Islameah School in Mark Cross, near Crowborough, East Sussex, had failed to fulfil an "improvement plan" to meet standards and would be shut.
"It is now illegal for Jameah Islameah to continue as an independent school and it could be prosecuted if it continued to do so," the department said in a statement.
The school "continues to fail to meet the standards which all independent schools must meet ... concerning the quality of education provided; the welfare, health and safety of pupils; and quality of premises and accommodation", it added.
The statement said the government was also looking into another Islamic school, the King Fahad Academy in London, which was accused by a former teacher of having textbooks that included a quote calling Christians "pigs" and Jews "monkeys".
The Saudi-funded school has said the references appear in a quote from a mediaeval scholar, and that it will tear the pages out of the books.
"It would be completely unacceptable for any school to have material which makes the sort of inflammatory assertions that are being alleged," Schools Minister Jim Knight said in a statement.