Earlier this year, the Schools Inspectorate withdrew the permits for three independent schools in the Arena Group. The reason was that individuals deemed unsuitable by the Security Service had been allowed to work close to pupils. However, the Administrative Court has now overturned the Schools Inspectorate's decision.
The case concerns the upper secondary schools Arena Academy in Stockholm and Gothenburg, as well as the primary school Arenaskolan in Örebro. At the beginning of the spring term, they had a total of nearly 600 pupils.
The Schools Inspectorate withdrew the permits for the schools, citing that a couple of individuals previously flagged as unsuitable by the authorities and the Security Service had held leading and pupil-facing positions at two different schools in the group.
It is worth noting that the Arena Group took over the permits a couple of years ago from the Muslim free school group Al-Azhar, which had been criticised for, among other things, serious economic crimes and religiously influenced education.
The question was therefore whether the new owner had conducted sufficient background checks in connection with the takeover. According to the Administrative Court in Stockholm, this is doubtful, and therefore there were grounds for the Schools Inspectorate to question the ownership and management circle. However, the Administrative Court continues, it was not a matter of pure negligence or omission, and there is nothing to suggest that the new owners would have a forgiving attitude towards religious extremism.
The circumstances are therefore not sufficient to establish that pupils are at risk of being indoctrinated, or that the ownership and management circle should be deemed unsuitable, according to the Administrative Court.
