Mufti appointed Ofsted head for the first time in history

Mufti Hamid Patel. Photo: telegraph.co.uk

For the first time, the UK Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) will be headed by a religious leader. Sir Hamid Patel, a mufti and the chief executive of the Star Academies school network, has been appointed interim chair of the Ofsted board.

According to Reuters, the news has sparked significant public reaction. On social media, users expressed concern that “everything that British children learn in schools from now on will go through him.”

Some have gone so far as to claim that “the Islamification of the UK is complete,” suggesting that education on the history of Israel and Muslim conquests could now be “fully rewritten.”

However, the UK’s Department for Education (DfE) clarified that it, not Ofsted, determines the national curriculum. Ofsted’s role is to inspect schools and evaluate the quality of education, not to design curricula.

Sir Hamid Patel heads Star Academies, a network managing dozens of schools across England. Initially focused solely on Islamic institutions, the organization later expanded to include secular and Christian schools as well. In 2021, Patel was knighted for his services to education.

His appointment is currently temporary – he will serve for up to five months while a permanent successor to Christine Ryan is found.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Patriarch Bartholomew had Iftar dinner with Muslims in Istanbul.

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