DEFIANT Ofsted defended itself against a backlash from teachers today after speakers at the NUT conference blasted inspectors’ attempts to ban hijabs in classrooms as “racism dressed up as liberalism”….

The Ofsted head said creating environments where the girls are expected to wear hijabs “could be interpreted as sexualisation of young girls”.

Furious teachers accused Ms Spielman of taking an “unwarranted and typically draconian stance” on the issue and dubbed it as “wholly inappropriate” for the watchdog to quiz primary-age pupils on their choice of dress.

Kaiser Jan, a delegate from Leeds, accused the chief inspector of wading in on the approach of “ we must rid our schools of these weapons of mass destruction – the hijab”.

MORE: UK teachers blast attempts to ban hijab in schools as “racism dressed as liberalism”