An Islamic school has been forced to remove a job advertisement which said that only male teachers would be considered for the role.
The Salafi Independent School in Birmingham, England, was attempting to recruit a “male science & Islamic studies teacher” for its young pupils.
The institution, which teaches girls and boys aged 5-11, claimed it needed a man to perform the role for “religious observance reasons”.
It advertised the position on Twitter, but later withdrew the post and issued a retraction after it was questioned by the Birmingham Mail newspaper.
Reporters pointed out that UK employment law bans gender discrimination when hiring for the vast majority of roles – including teachers.
In a statement to the Mail, headteacher Dr Perwaiz Saeed Alam acknowledged the difficulty and noted that the law is “why we don’t segregate” in class.
Alam said the school wanted a male teacher because the existing staff is heavily female, and they needed an additional man to accompany male students to the mosque.
The school said that they plan to re-advertise the vacancy without an absolute gender specification – but will instead say they are “hoping” for male applicants.
Parents pay £2,800 ($3,500) per year to send their children to the school, which has about 150 pupils.
Government inspectors have previously criticized the school for its low academic standards.
Islamic schools have been a hot-button issue in Britain before.
Figures in the education world have repeatedly warned of “Trojan horse” plots designed to replace current teachers with those dedicated to a hardline Islamic vision of education.
One former headteacher said angry local parents tried to force him out, and plans were mooted to force teachers to start wearing the veil on school premises.
