Jewish counter-extremists urge action on schools with no secular education

The Government must legislate to ensure children in strictly orthodox Jewish communities receive an adequate secular education and are protected from unregistered schools, a Jewish counter-extremism group has said.

Nahamu, which works to counter threats to civil liberties in Jewish communities, has today published a new briefing highlighting how children in Charedi Jewish communities are being deprived of a secular education which prepares them for adult life.

The report says preventing access to "broad and balanced" education is a "systemic" goal of leaders in Charedi communities. It says they fear "integration into wider UK society", which may result in young people "being afforded access to educational or employment opportunities" outside the Charedi community.

Unregistered schools leave boys "wholly unable to speak, write or read English"

The report says most teenage boys in Chassidic communities, which are particularly conservative sects within Charedi Judaism, attend unregistered Jewish faith schools (yeshivas).

Unregistered schools are institutions which do not register with the Department for Education (DfE) to avoid regulations and inspections, so they can teach a very narrow, religion-based curriculum without oversight. They operate either illegally or exploit legal loopholes to run within the margins of the law.

Nahamu says boys in unregistered yeshivas receive "no instruction" in secular subjects, including English or maths, beyond the age of 13, and they usually do not sit GCSEs.

As a result, boys in Chassidic communities are "wholly unable to speak, write or read English" in a "disturbing number of cases".

Chassidic parents often claim their sons are home educated when in fact they are spending "up to 60 hours a week in a yeshiva, without secular education" and receive "no secular education" at home, the report says.

It recommends closing "loopholes and gaps" in the law which are exploited by Charedi community leaders to deny children suitable education, including by requiring all institutions providing full time education for children of compulsory school age to register with the DfE.

It also recommends setting up a register of children not in school, to ensure home education is "adequate and appropriate" and "not used as a disguise for those who are in fact attending unregistered schools".

The National Secular Society has also long advocated for these measures.

A new private member's bill from Lib Dem peer Michael Storey would create a mandatory register of home schooled children.

But attempts to end unregistered schools and regulate home education have been aggressively resisted by Charedi community leaders. Several protested a similar bill earlier this year (pictured).

Faith schools making "dishonest representations" to inspectors

Even in registered faith schools, many boys in Chassidic communities receive "minimal or no secular education", the report says.

At primary Chassidic schools, secular education is "often limited to 45 to 60 minutes a day", and some teach "no secular education at all". Secondary Charedi schools have "limited time" set for secular education, resulting in "limited GCSE attainment". Most registered Charedi schools for boys finish at the end of year 10, despite compulsory education ending after year 11.

Nahamu has gathered testimonies from former pupils and parents who say some faith schools make "dishonest representations" when inspected by Ofsted. This includes showing work to inspectors that has not been completed by the children, and creating "theoretical" timetables for "the sole purpose of persuading Ofsted inspectors that an adequate level of secular education is being taught".

The report recommends faith schools which fail children on academic standards or safety issues "should have their charitable status removed and ultimately should be shut down".

It also says all schools should be required to provide "a weekly minimum number of hours of secular education" and recognised qualifications at key stages 4 and 5.

The NSS has long raised awareness of persistent failings in independent Charedi schools and supports stronger measures against schools which deny children secular education.

Nahamu also highlights how many state funded Charedi schools do not comply with the Schools Admissions Code – a problem also raised in a recent NSS report.

The report says while girls in Charedi communities have "generally adequate" education to the end of key stage 3, "access to externally recognised qualification may be restricted in order that girls have limited options after they finish school". Most girls in Chassidic communities have arranged marriages, "which can be socially coerced", within two to three years of sitting GCSEs.

NSS: Government "must start prioritising children's fundamental rights above the regressive demands of religious leaders"

NSS head of campaigns Megan Manson said: "It is shameful that religious leaders are being allowed to deliberately deprive thousands of British children of basic skills, even the ability to speak English.

"The Government must legislate to end unregistered schools by closing the legal loopholes which enable them to operate, and introducing a mandatory register of children not in school.

"And it must close any school which persistently fails to deliver an adequate secular education.

"The Government must start prioritising children's fundamental rights above the regressive demands of religious leaders who don't want to give children access to a life beyond the narrow confines of insular religious communities."