UK schools need to be more "vigilant" against extremism:Report

The UK government has been warned to be more "vigilant" against extremism in British schools amid claims that hardline Muslims had tried to gain control of governing bodies of the educational institutions in Birmingham.
An internal review by the UK's Department for Education (DfE) has found that it "has in the past lacked inquisitiveness" about extremism in schools.
The inquiry was launched following the "Trojan Horse" controversy around claims that hardline Muslims had tried to gain control of school governing bodies in Birmingham.
"Procedures could have been tighter than they were," says the report into its handling of the claims.

While it found no instances of the DfE ignoring "specific warnings" of extremism in schools, it warns: "The department needs always to be vigilant and inquisitive and have robust systems in place."
This is the latest in a series of investigations into the allegations, which were sparked by "Trojan Horse letter" - now widely believed to be a hoax.

The anonymous letter, which was sent to the local council, referred to an alleged plot by hard-line Muslims to seize control of a number of school governing boards in the city.
In a written ministerial statement, education secretary Nicky Morgan endorsed the latest review and its recommendations.

Morgan also announced a series of measures to strengthen systems within the department.
These include increasing the size of the DfE's Due Diligence and Counter-Extremism Division, and introducing a formal system for staff to refer concerns about extremism to the division.
Rules around school inspection have also been tightened with some schools in England likely to be visited twice on the same day by different school inspectors from Ofsted to test the reliability of findings.
The UK schools watchdog plans to pilot double inspections this term, with inspectors comparing judgements to see if they have reached the same conclusions.