London: A school in the UK is to be investigated after it mistakenly released the names of seven students feared at risk of radicalisation.
The names of students at Greenleaf Primary Schoolin east London were found after a parent entered aFreedom of Information (FOI) request.
The requestcame after classes at the school took part in a social cohesion survey, which asked them to say whether theyagreed or disagreed with a number of statements, including “it is better to be a dead hero than live impassively”, “if a student was making fun of my race or religion I would try to make them stop even if it meant hurting them”, and “God has a purpose for me”.
Waltham Forest Council said: “The school has informed the families affected of the action that the council is taking on its behalf, and that the council has launched a full investigation.”
The seven named studentswere involved in a programme known as ‘Brit: Building Resilience through Integration and Trust’, which is targeted at nine to 11-year-olds, and involveslesson plans and workbooks about identity and belonging.
Some parents raised concerns about the survey, saying they had not been consulted or thatthe exercisewas racist and unfairly targeted Muslim children.
The parent submitted the (FOI) request to question whether certain children had been targeted.
“It’s been a disaster from start to finish. Firstly we’re told it’s a social cohesion policy and then after various questioning they accept it’s a de-radicalisation process and then to release the names of the children in such an insensitive way,” he was quoted as saying by BBC.
“Any parent in any school – whether they are of a Muslim faith or non-Muslim or no faith – would be appalled by their children’s data, such sensitive data, are released to a member of the public,” he said.