The United Kingdom’s Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills, or Ofsted, appointed the head of a religious school as its interim chairman in what is believed to be the first for the country’s education watchdog.
Sir Hamid Patel will serve as head of Ofsted temporarily until a replacement has been found for Dame Christine Ryan, who stepped down last November after a four-year term following a scathing report that criticized the agency’s response to a teacher who committed suicide after her school received a poor rating from the agency at inspection.
Patel is the chief executive of the Star Academies Trust, which operates around 40 primary and secondary schools in different cities in the United Kingdom, including Lancashire, Greater Manchester, and London. Many of these schools are rated outstanding. Members of this multi-academy trust, which Patel has run since its founding in 2010, include several Islamic schools, a Christian school, and grammar schools.
Patel has been a member of the Ofsted board since 2019. In 2021, during the late Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday honors, he was knighted for his outstanding services to education. He also attended the coronation of King Charles II in 2023. The Telegraph reported that Patel has a reputation for being a balanced board member who has never opposed moves to regulate more hardline religious schools.
He previously served as the headteacher or principal of the Tauheedul Islam Girls' High School in Blackburn. During his time in the 800-student state secondary school, it became one of the first schools in the United Kingdom to encourage its students to wear hijab outside the school premises and in the classroom.
The school also had rules that told students to “recite the Koran at least once a week“ and prohibited them from bringing stationery in school that contained “un-Islamic images“ such as pictures of pop stars.
The institution was also criticized in 2010 for allowing a controversial Saudi Arabian scholar named Sheikh Abdul Rahman al-Sudais to visit the school after he described Jews as “pigs“ and prayed for God to “terminate“ them.
When he spoke to the Sunday Times in 2013, Patel commented on the visit, saying, “The girls wanted to see this guy with five million followers. They had seen him on YouTube. He stayed 20 minutes.“
There were no suggestions whether the cleric made the antisemitic comments while paying a visit to the school.
His appointment to the post has been met with lukewarm support. The country’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn, described Patel as a “highly respected school and academy trust leader, knighted for his contribution to education.“
“After more than five years on the Ofsted Board, I'm delighted he is stepping up to lead while the secretary of state recruits a permanent chairman.“ Sir Martyn added.
The National Secular Society said that “at a time when religious fundamentalism is increasingly impacting schools, we’re willing to support any chairman who upholds principles of equality, regardless of sex and religion or belief.“
“We urge Sir Hamid to ensure that Ofsted remains committed to ensuring that religion does not impede educational standards or undermine children’s fundamental human right to a broad and balanced education,“ the organization added.
A spokesperson for the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism also commented on his appointment, urging Patel to “adopt a higher degree of scrutiny than he appeared to in his previous occupation.“
“British Jews will understandably be concerned that an individual who invited a man who allegedly described Jews as "pigs" to speak to children will be responsible for assessing the performance of schools,“ the spokesperson added.
