Conservative Islamic Practices ‘Enforced’ in ‘Secular’ School in UK, Girl Suspended for Having Boyfriend

A UK teacher allegedly broke into a female student's phone and accumulated "proof" that she was in a "forbidden" relation. It happened in one of the state schools in Birmingham that had apparently been taken over by radical Muslims.

The 16-year-old student of Park View School had her mobile phone confiscated during a Sunday event in April. The mobile was taken to a shop without the consent of the girl so that the passcode could be manipulated. The mobile was eventually unlocked and the school examined the contents in it.

The mobile had photos of the girl with a fellow Year 11 boy student from the same school. It also had text messages exchanged between the two. Both the photos and the texts were used against the girl to suspend her while only weeks were left before her GCSE exams. The boy was suspended as well. However, the duration of suspension for the boy was shorter.

Park View is apparently a secular school. However, Year 11 students about to appear for their GCSEs were asked to perform an Islamic fast so that they had the proper "spiritual frame of mind" for the exams. The boys and the girls were asked to sit separately in the class. Students who are "too friendly" with each other were disciplined.

The girl's mother reported the incident to the police as it would be illegal to intercept private text messages under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. The school, on the other hand, said that the police were involved in the "breaking in" incident, so was the child safeguarding team. The school authorities, however, did not elaborate the details. The teacher who is involved in the incident has apparently been enforcing conservative Islamic values on students.

The Telegraph managed to get hold of a leaked internal school calendar which showed that separate annual sports days were allocated for girls and boys. The school calendar even reveals that students are likely to fast during the holy month of Ramadan. Interestingly, according to Islam, the practice is compulsory only for adults.