Government urged to reconsider extremism strategy

The government has been urged to reconsider its ‘Prevent’ extremism strategy, which places a legal duty on teachers and schools to prevent pupils from being drawn into extremism and report suspected cases of radicalisation.

The strategy has faced heavy criticism, with education experts warning that teachers have not been given adequate training, which has resulted in many pupils being unnecessarily referred.

Additionally, concerns have been raised that the new duty is limiting free discussion in classrooms and making certain pupils feel that they are being unfairly monitored.

A new report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights recommends that that the Prevent strategy must be reviewed, criticising the government for not offering a clear definition of ‘extremism’.

The report also criticises the government’s assumption that religious conservatism ends with support for violent jihadism and advises that any measures should aim to ‘tackle extremism that leads to violence, not suppress views with which the government disagrees’.

Additionally, the Committee also questions the government’s ability to apply its counter extremism proposals in a safeguarding context without a clear definition of extremism, as it is not clear what children would be safeguarded from.

The report concludes that if the government is able to clarify its definition and additional inspection measures are introduced, they should only apply where concerns have been raised and should not be aimed specifically at religious organisations.