A private Islamic school set up by a man who trained one of the 7/7 bombers is receiving taxpayer funding. Sajeel Shahid was able to use the money to establish a primary school Essex despite his known terrorist links.
An investigation by the Daily Mail shows that, despite charging fees for attendance, Ad-Deen Primary School’s prospectus claims that it receives nursery education grants which allow parents to claim an annual discount of around £600 per child for children of three and four years of age.
The money comes from local councils, who in turn get it from central government.
The Department for Education said it was ‘urgently’ investigating the claims about the school. They said they would introduce new powers to bar ‘unsuitable’ proprietors from independent schools. School inspectors Ofsted, said they were ready to launch a snap inspection if required.
Shahid has previously called for violence against British troops, and went to Pakistan in 2001 to set up a branch of the Al Muhajiroon group. He has also said that ‘jihad is the only solution for Muslim lands under occupation.’
He was able to set up the school in 2009 and operate it for five years despite a special unit being set up to prevent people with extremist beliefs being able to run schools. He taught lessons himself at the school and employed his brother, who also has a history of extremism, as head of IT.
A spokesman for the Department for Education told the Mail: “It is vital that we ensure unsuitable people are not managing independent schools.
“We are introducing new powers to ensure that people whose past conduct demonstrates they are not suitable to run an independent school can be barred.”
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