Teacher banned from profession after branding gay people ‘sick in the head’
By Will Stroude
A teacher who said that gay people “have a disease” and are “sick in the head” has been banned from the profession indefinitely.
Joshua Onduso, 50, was working as a science teacher at the The Reintegration Service in Thatcham, Berkshire, when he made the homophobic remarks to pupils during a lesson in May 2015.
A National College for Teaching and Leadership panel found him guilty “unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.”
The panel observed “it is not unreasonable to believe that comments of this nature would have a serious affect on the well-being of pupils” and that Mr Onduso “failed to act as a role model at all times.”
It also “Mr Onduso abused his position as a teacher.”
A report outlining the panel’s findings said Mr Onduso was asked what he thought of gay people during a lesson in May 2015.
A teaching assistant who gave evidence stated that Mr Onduso replied that “gay people have a disease” and that “they have something wrong upstairs”
The report said when he was asked about what he had told students earlier in the day, he responded that he had said gay people were “sick in the head”.
Mr Onduso had been suspended by the school’s headteacher the day after the remarks were made while an internal investigation took place. He was later dismissed from the school following a disciplinary hearing in September 2015.
Mr Onduso, who had a “good history” in the profession, acknowledged that his comments were homophobic but had “not been remorseful”, according to the report.
Following his dismissal, Mr Onduso undertook “further safeguarding training”, but the panel ruled that he had not “displayed sufficient insight into his actions… to persuade it that Mr Onduso has learnt from his actions.”
The decision means that Mr Onduso is cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, youth accommodation or children’s home in England.
He has 28 days to appeal the decision.
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