Government dismisses MPs' concerns over 'Trojan Horse' scandal

Responding to a report by the education select committee that criticised the Department for Education's “lack of inquisitiveness” to issues around extremism in schools prior to the receipt of an anonymously written letter in 2014, the government dismissed the committee's claims.

"On receipt of the ‘Trojan Horse’ document in December 2013, the DfE took immediate action; contacting police and the local authority, undertaking investigative research and assessing the possibility that these behaviours may have spread to other schools and individuals mentioned in the original document," the government response states.

"Rather than 'being slow to take an active interest', the department actively pursued the concerns."

The response also stated that government understanding of the issue has increased.

"The DfE has considerably increased its understanding of the challenge of extremism, and its capacity to monitor it and help schools to respond to it in the past few years," the response states.
 
"The risk of young people being radicalised or drawn into terrorism has risen.

"ISIL [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] and others are using social media to radicalise and recruit young people, and young people form a growing proportion of those travelling to Syria and Iraq.

"Events in Birmingham have shown risks that can be present within our schools."