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www.abplgroup.com
Dee Katwa
Asian Voice - Saturday 24th April 2010
Midland Voice Contact: Dhiren on 07970 911 386 or dhiren.katwa@abplgroup.com
Parents’ dilemma over school preference Birmingham’s most popular school is an Islamic faith school. And how anxious parents in the city are committing fraud to get their children into the school of their choice. The Al-Hijrah School in Bordesley Green is Birmingham’s most popular school, despite being awarded an “inadequate” rating by schools watchdog Ofsted. Councillor John Hunt, chairman of the education overview and scrutiny committee, said faith schools were more attractive to parents because of the perception they have better discipline and teaching values. However, his advice to parents is this: “Do not give up on the school your child is allocated. I believe that there is enough resources in the education system for young people to do well.” Linked to this are the
findings of an investigation by Birmingham Post which show that over the past two years the city has seen cases of fraud rise by almost two thirds. Desperate parents are trying to get their children into the school of their choice by renting houses they don’t live in and pretending unrelated children are siblings. Birmingham investigated 48 cases of alleged school place fraud in 2009, which is a jump from 30 cases in 2007. The clamour for places has seen a rise in the number of parents cheating the system by using addresses belonging to grandparents, converting to another faith or
buying and renting houses within school catchment areas. A new method is falsely claiming that their children are related to other pupils who are already at the school. The claim allows them to jump up the list via the sibling rule, which guarantees places for brothers and sisters of current pupils. Latest figures show that 13,952 Birmingham pupils applied to the city council for a secondary school for September 2009. 9,866 (62.6 per cent) were offered their first preferred school and 13,898 (88.2 per cent) were offered one of their preferred schools. Birmingham’s eight grammar schools have just 999 places between them. But, 2,562 applicants put a grammar school as a first prefer-
ence and 1940 (13.9 per cent) put a grammar school as a second preference. Last summer Harrow Council dropped a test prosecution against a mother accused of lying about her address to secure a place for her son at a primary school. The council had taken the action over an allegation that the mother, Mrinal Patel, had applied for a place for her five-year-old son using her mother’s address. Harrow was prosecuting under the Fraud Act 2006, but has now been told it is no longer clear whether the legislation covers this type of case. Nobody in the UK has ever been criminally prosecuted for providing false information on a school place application.
Ban for taxi driver
Parking saga
A private hire driver, Mohammed Sarfraz Sheikh, from Walsall, has been banned from driving for six months after being caught illegally plying for hire. At Walsall Magistrates this Monday, Sheikh, 51, who was driving without insurance, was fined a total of £490 and ordered to pay £509.58 costs.
Potential parking problems could arise if plans for a new-look temple in Walsall are given the green light. The Shri Guru Ravidass Cultural Association has applied to Walsall Council for planning permission to bulldoze existing buildings housing the temple in Pinfold Street, Darlaston, and build a new-look temple. Councillor Paul Bott, of Darlaston South ward, said he already receives complaints from residents who say they cannot park near their homes because over-spill parking from the temple on to the street.
Debt chasing Thousands of firms across the West Midlands claim that time wasted chasing debt has adversely affected their business, according to new research. The survey from NatWest and RBS reveals that 71 per cent of SMEs in the UK have suffered from late payments over the last 12 months. And the collective value of invoices paid outside of company’s agreed terms and conditions in the region alone, is estimated at £5.4 billion. For example, one in five businesses with an annual turnover of between £250,000 and £500,000 has suffered, compared with just one in 15 of medium and large businesses.
High earner GP Raghavan A family doctor from Birmingham is among the highest-earning GPs in the UK. The doctor has been one of the main beneficiaries of a shake-up in healthcare contracts that has seen pay soar, but standards in some cases drop. The Heart of Birmingham Teaching Primary Care Trust was forced to disclose the high earnings by The Sunday Times under freedom of information rules, but refused to identify the GP. However, senior medical sources in the area have indicated that it is Dr Shiverdorayi Raghavan, 59, who operates two separate practices in central Birmingham. Father-of-two Raghavan, pictured left, who has a PMS contract for his 6,700-patient Heathfield family centre in Handsworth, also co-owns a company called Summerfield Group that in 2007 won the right to run a second surgery in Birmingham under the APMS system. Vijayakar Abrol, a leading Birmingham GP, pictured right, said he will be writing to the Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT, demanding how anyone could earn such huge sums. “I meet all my targets,” he said, “but my pensionable income is less than £100,000 a year. I simply cannot understand how someone could have NHS earnings like this.” Dr Raghavan was unavailable for comment.
Buddhist festival Buddhists across the globe will mark their most important annual festival, Vesakha, this weekend. Vesakha, or Vaisakh, is the name for the Indian month May on the full moon day of which Buddha was born, attained enlightenment and passed away. All are welcome to join celebrations at the Buddhist Peace Pagoda in Edgbaston, Birmingham, from 10.30am onwards this Sunday.
Arthritis centre marks 10th anniversary A centre which offers support for people suffering with arthritis has celebrated its tenth milestone. The Birmingham Arthritis Resource Centre (BARC) has helped thousands of people since it was set up. A unique project, Circle of Needs, delivered through BARC, was awarded £72,320 as part of the Learning Revolution Transformation Fund. The project provided informal learning opportunities to local ethnic minority communities who struggle to understand arthritis and need methods to cope. One method, bilingual audio resources, has been available in English and Urdu. BARC will also consider, let’s hope, catering for those who speak neither of these languages. A special event, inaugurated by Lord Mayor Michael Wilkes, was recently held at the city’s council house to celebrate the centre’s achievements. Here, centre chairman Professor Paul Bacon congratulated Chandrika Gordhan, BARC’s manager (pictured with an arthritis patient) and her staff “for completing a difficult project so successfully, despite enormous time pressures.” More than nine million people suffer with arthritis nationally, of which around 480,000 cases are in Birmingham. To find out more about BARC visit www.barc.org.uk
News in Brief This is Your Life, Oxasians An exhibition, Oxasians, which explores ten South Asian men and women who studied at Oxford University between 1889 and the present day opens in Oxford this Saturday (Apr 24). The story takes viewers on a journey of how their time at Oxford influenced these key figures who have gone on to contribute to both Britain’s and South Asian history. Key figures include Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto, Ved Mehta and Manmohan Singh. Also included is Rajeeb Dey, 24, an ex-president of Oxford Entrepreneurs. Rajeeb, described by many as “a Richard Branson in making” is an advisory board member of UK-India Business Council, among a raft of other feathers in his cap. He recently launched his business Enternships, a jobs portal connecting talented students and graduates to entrepreneurial work placements in start-ups and small businesses worldwide.
Helping kids in need Congratulations to Lopa Patel, pictured, founder of Redhotcurry.com, the south Asian news portal, on being appointed a trustee of Raha International, an educational charity which supports disadvantaged children in Kenya. The charity was founded in February 2008 by sisters Daksha and Nimi Hirani.
New Voice for Women A new feminist organisation, Feminista UK, which aims to use grassroots activism to create gender equality and reduce the stigma around feminism has been launched. The group has 15 activists. Among women’s organisations which it is already backing is Southall Black Sisters. Its chair, Pragna Patel, pictured, said: ‘Grassroots activism is a crucial part of campaigning for legislative and cultural change...Feminista UK will be an invaluable resource for our work.’
Vaisakhi Mela Scores of people are set to descend on Handsworth Park in Birmingham this Sunday (April 25) to celebrate Vaisakhi, the annual harvest festival in the Sikh calendar. The 10am-6pm free event, organised by The Council of Sikh Gurdwaras, will begin with two vibrant processions in Hockley and will include children’s and sports activities, stalls, live music and dance, speakers, poetry, exhibitions, competitions and much more. Devoted couple Shantose Kaur and Pal Singh, of CSG, are extending a personal invitation to all Asian Voice readers to attend. To find out more visit www.vaisakhibirmingham.org.uk
Pink Dinner The flagrant Harriet Harman pictured with Lord Waheed Alli, the first and only openly gay life peer, at Stonewall’s annual Equality Dinner in London last Thursday. The charity event raised a record £366,000 on the night towards Stonewall’s campaigning work for lesbian and gay equality.