Channel 4 on Monday denied accusations that it “unfairly targeted” an Islamic school in Birmingham with “surreptitious” recording for a Dispatches documentary due to air tonight.
The Darul Uloom Islamic High School is one of the educational establishments due to feature in tonight’s Dispatches investigation into allegations of assault at Islamic schools across the UK. The school said on Monday it was “concerned that the truth has been distorted completely” in some of the allegations made by Dispatches.
Channel 4 responded that its investigation is “clearly in the public interest” and “shows secret footage of numerous adults on different occasions teaching pupils as young as 11 years of age contempt for other religions and wider society”. “We stand by our investigation and think the programme speaks for itself,” the broadcaster said.
Lessons in Hate and Violence, made by independent producer Hardcash, investigates allegations that some teachers in Islamic schools regularly assault young children and teach a message of hatred and intolerance. West Yorkshire police earlier on Monday arrested one man in Keighley in connection with footage due to be aired tonight.
A statement released by the school on Monday said: “We feel that a certain media channel has targeted us unfairly by surreptitiously recording inside our school for a period longer than six months. Over that period of time they have selectively gathered a handful of quotes and comments allegedly from some teachers, which they are using to attempt to portray our school in a light completely contrary to its ethos.”
The school, which is funded in part by charitable donations, added that its official policy was to “promote tolerance and appreciation of other religions” and that the majority of its students go on to become “upright citizens”.
“No school can claim to be immune from incidents that require remedial action,” the school said. “What we have demonstrated repeatedly, is that our procedures have dealt with contraventions in the past, and will continue to do so. These actions have included expulsions of students, and dismissals of teachers, as long as six months prior to us having knowledge of the surreptitious recording.”
Darul Uloom added that it would close early for half-term because of concern for the safety of pupils travelling to and from its site in the Small Heath area of Birmingham.