Scottish health secretary claims nursery discriminated against two-year-old daughter

Mr Yousaf and his wife, Nadia El-Nakla, have complained to the Care Inspectorate, the sector’s regulator in Scotland, and asked it to investigate whether the nursery had discriminated on the basis of either ethnicity or religion.

The couple allege that Little Scholars in Broughty Ferry near Dundee refused to offer places to three children with Muslim names, including their daughter Amal, but did offer places to children with Western-sounding names.

In a thread on Twitter, Mr Yousaf said it was ‘not a step my wife and I have taken lightly. After our nursery application for our daughter was refused a second time, my wife asked her White Scottish friend to put in an application for a child the same age. Within 24 hours of refusing our application my wife's friend's was accepted.

‘I was sure there must be rational explanation but my wife felt differently. She created a profile with a White Scottish name and made an application, she also asked her sister 'Sara Ahmed' to submit an application on same day. Her sister was rejected but White Scottish application accepted.'

Mr Yousaf then went to the Daily Record and asked them to investigate.

As part of the investigation, the newspaper’s reportor created two profiles with children the same age and the same requirements. The ‘Aqsa Akhtar’ application was rejected while ‘Susan Blake’ was offered a choice of four afternoons.

Mr Yousaf said they asked the nursery for an explanation but have not been given one.

On Twitter, he added, ‘I cannot tell you how angry I am. As a father all I want to do is protect my girls, yet aged two I believe my daughter has faced discrimination. If this had not happened to me I'm not sure I would have believed it could happen in 2021. How many other families has this happened to?’

Nadia El-Nakla first applied for a place for Amal in September 2020 and again in May. The Daily Record reported that  the responses were so 'similarly abrupt' she felt compelled to explore further.

She said, 'I had called the previous year and spoke to someone who told me that unless I fill out a very detailed registration form, they couldn’t even tell me availability.

'I didn't want to give over so much personal information so early into an inquiry. This time I felt dismissed again, although I did fill in the ­registration form. To me, it didn’t make business sense for a nursery to dismiss me and not even offer a waiting list without being pressed.

'I just felt in my gut that there was something not right about it. So I decided to inquire using non-ethnic names to see what that elicited.'

A spokesperson for the nursery’s owner, Usha Fowdar, said the company rejected claims of racial or religious discrimination and would welcome a Care Inspectorate investigation.

The spokesperson for Little Scholars Day Nursery said, 'Our nursery is extremely proud of being open and inclusive to all and any claim to the contrary is demonstrably false and an accusation that we would refute in the strongest possible terms. We also stand by the member of our staff, named by the media today, who has been with us since the nursery opened 14 years ago. She is professional, compassionate,  incredibly hard working and a valued member of our team.

'In addition to our owners being of Asian heritage, across more than a decade we have regularly welcomed both children and staff from a range of different religious, cultural, ethnic and racial backgrounds including two Muslim families currently. We have also regularly made arrangements to accommodate different lifestyles by, for example, providing a halal menu for those children who come from Muslim families.

'We note Mr Yousaf’s call for a Care Inspectorate investigation and this is something we would absolutely welcome. We have nothing to hide and look forward to the opportunity to demonstrate the policies and procedures we have in place to ensure we are a nursery that is open and welcoming  to all.'

Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of National Day Nurseries Association Scotland, said, ‘These are serious allegations and discrimination of any kind is not acceptable. It is right that they are being investigated by regulatory bodies. 

‘All businesses, including nurseries, have a legal responsibility not to discriminate against or disadvantage people based on their backgrounds. It will be important to see the outcome of any investigation into this nursery’s conduct in this case.

‘The incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into Scots law will be another positive step. Nurseries across the country already have a strong focus on children’s rights. NDNA Scotland is working with our members to support this implementation and be able to demonstrate how they promote and protect children’s rights.’