A Walk Into The Gardens Of My Mind

Growing concern over troublesome students excluded from mainstream schools and then placed in alternative provisions, has sparked huge debate. In Radio 4's Today Programme, head of Ofsted, Sir Michael Wilshaw expressed his irritation and scorn at supposedly 'illegal schools'. Asked by the presenter on the radio show, if illegal schools are 'lucrative business for all' , Wilshaw responded by saying 'The simple answer to that is yes, people like to line their pockets'.  Now although Ofsted along with BBC have led investigations and unearthed a number of alternative-led educational provisions, I believe it wrong to label all of these 'illegal'. The word 'illegal' produces negative connotations of corruption, crime and callousness. Yes several unregistered Islamic schools in addition to Orthodox schools have been found, but using the word illegal to describe them creates further stigma and further alienation of communities. If a parent d