A complaint by the Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf who accused a Dundee nursery of offering school places to white children while denying them to Muslim kids has been upheld.
In May Humza Yousaf and his wife accused Little Scholars Nursery in Broughty Ferry of discriminating against their daughter.
After concluded an investigation, a spokesperson for the Care Inspectorate said: “We have upheld a complaint in relation to this matter. We found that the service did not promote fairness, equality and respect when offering placements.
“Every child in Scotland has the right to good quality care that meets their needs and respects their rights. We have identified areas for improvement and we will follow up on these to check on progress.
“We continue to monitor this service. If we are not satisfied that the improvements required have been met, we will not hesitate to take further action.”
The Care Inspectorate have ordered the nursery to improve its communications with prospective families “to demonstrate that applicants are treated in a courteous and respectful manner. People must receive the right information.”
Mr Yousaf and his wife said they were told there was no space for their child but said applicants with “white Scottish-sounding names” were accepted. The nursery denied the accusations.
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A statement from the solicitor of Mr Yousaf and Nadia El-Nakla said the couple felt “vindicated” by the Care Inspectorate ruling.
It said: “They are first and foremost loving parents who would do anything to protect their children. Humza and Nadia were left deeply upset when they believed their young daughter Amal was being discriminated against and that is why they took action they did.”
A spokeswoman for Little Scholars said: “Whilst the Care Inspectorate found our admission procedure could be improved, this had nothing to do with discrimination or equality. Within a few days of becoming aware of Mr Yousaf and Ms El-Nakla’s complaint, we reviewed and updated our system for dealing with admissions.”
