Incalculable damage has been inflicted on the Birmingham schools caught up in this affair and to their pupils and parents. There are already acute staff shortages which will get worse. The way the affair has been handled is entirely down to Gove and Ofsted. They should provide extra resources and staff to mitigate the damage to the children and community in Birmingham. As they pick up the pieces they will probably never forget what’s been done to them. One hopes they can bring themselves in time to forgive. They will be more likely to do so if they are given some help, in recompense for the injustices they are suffering.
Tim Brighouse, formerly chief education officer of Birmingham and schools commissioner for London, identifies the real villains in the “Trojan horse” affair and proposes some solutions.