Teachers must be allowed to do their job “uninhibited”, but in a “tolerant” and “respectful” way, the communities secretary has said.
Robert Jenrick was commenting on protests outside a school in West Yorkshire, where a teacher was suspended for reportedly showing pupils a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad.
Protesters have gathered outside Batley Grammar School in Batley, West Yorkshire for a second day - with crowds of people seen outside the gates on Friday morning, and police at the scene.
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Mr Jenrick said the protests were “not right”, adding that suggestions that a teacher at the school was in hiding were “very disturbing”.
He argued that teachers should be allowed to teach “uninhibited”, but this must be done in a “respectful” way.
‘Looking into the matter’
“I don’t know precisely what a teacher did in the classroom,” he told Sky News.
“We know that the school is looking into the matter and investigating, and that’s absolutely right - the Department for Education is liaising with the school and with the local council.
“What I can say is that there has to be an appropriate balance - we have to ensure that there is free speech, that teachers can teach uninhibited, but that has to be done in a respectful and tolerant way and that’s a balance that’s to be struck by teaching professionals and the schools concerned.
“What I would also add is that I was disturbed to see scenes of people protesting outside the school - that is not right.
“We shouldn’t have teachers, members of staff of schools feeling intimidated, and the reports that a teacher may even be in hiding is very disturbing. That is not a road that we want to go down in this country, so I would strongly urge people who are concerned about this issue not to do that.”
‘Positive, unifying environment’
Baroness Warsi, former chairwoman of the Conservative Party, also said this morning that schools should create a “positive, unifying learning environment”.
She told BBC Radio 4‘s Today programme: “I think this is about children, it’s about child safeguarding and making sure the school look again, as should every school, to ensure that every pupil in their school is being taught in a way which creates a positive, unifying learning environment.
“Unfortunately, this matter has been hijacked by extremists on both sides to kind of create this culture war. What we’re forgetting in all of this is the most important party in all of this, which is the kids and their learning.”
The peer said she had spoken to pupils and parents over the past 24 hours, and “it’s obvious that many pupils were left distressed because of what happened”.
