Schoolboy referred to Prevent after teacher mistakes alms for ‘arms’

A SCHOOL referred an 11-year-old boy to the counter-radicalisation Prevent programme after his teacher mistook the word “alms” for “arms” during a classroom discussion.

A legal challenge lodged by the boy’s parents against the school said the pupils of his class were asked what they would do if they got a large sum of money. The boy replied that he would give “alms” to the oppressed, but the teacher interpreted it as “arms” and made a referral to Prevent without discussing the matter with the family, it said.

The police who received the referral closed the case, saying there was no sign of radicalisation or extremist views and there was no threat to national security.

The boy’s parents, who accused the school of making the Prevent referral because of his racial and religious backgrounds, sought an apology and damages from the school. They said the referral should be expunged from his records as they fear that it could be passed on to the grammar school he would join next despite the prompt closure of the case by the police.

The referral, cited by The Guardian, stated that the boy “lives with mum and dad – attends a local mosque” and that his comments are “non-typical” for a boy his age due to his interest in medieval history, war, siege engines and soldiers.

The teacher said in the referral form that his parents were “not contacted” before sharing his personal data.

However, government guidance on Prevent states that “consent from the person involved should be obtained wherever possible before sharing information” and “the necessity and proportionality” of a referral should be assessed taking into account the “risk to the individual and to other members of the public”.

The boy’s father said his son was “widely” read and often helped his teachers clear up the classroom. The school also acknowledges that he is an “intelligent boy”, according to the report.

The incident has brought to the fore the harmful impact of Prevent, an initiative introduced by the government in 2003 as part of its counter-terrorism efforts. Critics have called for scrapping the programme.

Attiq Malik of Liberty Law Solicitors, representing the boy’s family, said Prevent “is simply not working”.