Children in unregistered schools taught with books advocating men beating their wives, Ofsted Chief Inspector warns

Children are being taught with “worrying teaching materials” in unregistered schools, including books that advocate men beating their wives, the Chief Inspector of Ofsted has warned.

Amanda Spielman told MPs that pupils in “squalid conditions” had been exposed to “very disturbing things” including publications by people who have been banned from entering the country.

The schools watchdog head told the Commons Education Select Committee that she would like to have “stronger powers” to inspect suspected unregistered schools and to seize evidence.

“We do take photographs if we can but if the proprietors or teachers pick up everything that’s there and walk out with it, there's nothing we can do," she said. "They can simply take it away."

She added: “We have seen poor education, we have seen squalid conditions and we have seen some very worrying teaching materials in some of those institutions.

“Books promoting very concerning practices advocating men beating their wives to punish them, teaching that women are not entitled to refuse sex to their husbands and so on.”

Inspectors have seen books designed to explain Quranic teaching to children, as well as exercise books about the role of men and women in Muslim society, in a number of schools, she said.

She added: “There are probably parents who want a very particular religious ethos but have no idea quite what their children are being exposed to in pursuit of that ethos.”

In response, Trudy Harrison, the Conservative MP for Copeland, said the news “concerned her greatly", adding that she was “incredulous” to find that these schools had not been shut down.

Ms Spielman replied that she had “more constructive” conversations with the Department for Education, which regulates independent schools and is hoping to see a “more determined regime”.

She also warned the committee that it was likely that “undesirable things” were happening in outside of school settings and highlighted a case this month where a teacher at an east London independent school was convicted of attempting to radicalise children at a mosque.

Orthodox Jewish schools also have “problems” with particular aspects of equalities law, she said and she stressed: “Parental preferences cannot override the law.”

MPs also asked the Chief Inspector about uniform policies due to her recent support of an east London school that was forced to reverse a ban on girls under eight wearing the hijab.

Ms Spielman suggested taking uniform decisions away from individual schools to relieve some pressure on heads, following the backlash that the head of St Stephen's School received.

She said: “If we are going to end up with an asymmetry where people conscientiously, running often quite small schools, can be effectively targeted and bullied in this way, I think we're in a very worrying world.

“It opens the question for me whether it is right to leave so much decision making at individual school level and whether some of these decisions that are becoming increasingly difficult and sensitive should be taken at local authority or multi-academy trust or central government level.”