A math teacher who asked a Muslim student if she had a bomb under her hijab was not banned from the class, heard a tribunal.
Mark Holland made a series of inappropriate comments, including calling a student a 'stupid blonde' and telling a female student that she could 'do better' in reference to her boyfriend.
But a panel of an educational regulation agency (TRE) decided that the prohibition of Mr. Holland would 'not be proportionate or in the public interest'.
Between March and December 2022, the high school teacher made various attacking comments to students at the Large Academy Ashton in Ashton-Under-Lyne, Tameside.
Other comments include telling a teenager 'Betting that you have a lot of friends with your appearance' and another 'the liar'.
He worked at the school for almost five years, but in September 2023 it was forced to leave after a disciplinary hearing.
The panel said that his comments to the Muslim student, whom he called 'the non', were 'not racially motivated, but were probably religious insensitive'.
They said that his behavior “did not fall to the behavioral standards that were expected from a teacher, but ruled that it” did not meet the threshold for serious misconduct. ”
Mark Holland made a series of inappropriate comments between March and December 2022, including asking a Muslim student if she had a bomb under her hijab
A panel of an educational regulation agency (TRE) decided that the prohibition of Mr. Holland would “not be proportionate or in the public interest.”
He liked to “apologize for the allegations to him and said that he would” adjust the way he had involved students. “
Mr. Holland claimed to have abused the content of the conversations as an easy way to build an understanding with students'.
In a written statement, the TR said that Mr. Holland's behavior “was not consistent with supporting as a suitable role model for students.”
Decision -maker Sarah Buxcey wrote: 'I concluded that a prohibition order is not proportionate or in the public interest.
“I believe that the publication of the findings would be sufficient to send a suitable message to the teacher about the behavioral standards that were not acceptable and that the publication would meet the requirement of the public interest to explain the correct standards of the profession.”
