01 December 2014

Al-Hijrah Trust facing probe over claim £1m of public cash was spent on school in Pakistan

Council bosses are investigating claims that a Trust running a failing Birmingham school used £1 million of taxpayer cash to fund a new school in Pakistan.

Al-Hijrah opened in Burbidge Road, Bordesley Green, in 1999 and was at that time the city’s only Islamic school.

It is run by the Al-Hijrah Trust but was placed in special measures in May after a damning Ofsted report branded it “inadequate”.

A month later the entire governing body was sacked after financial troubles, including a £900,000 budget deficit, were revealed and a new interim board was parachuted in to take over.

Now it is understood the council is investigating claims that the Trust used public money to help fund a £1 million state-of-the-art school in the city of Ziarat in Pakistan. [Birmingham Mail] Read more