A new front has opened up in the threat against chareidi education
How far will British education authorities go in their efforts to reform Jewish schools in the UK?
Two years after the threat to chinuch in the country made headlines, the Department for Education is pushing to expand the definition of independent schools that are monitored by the department to include frameworks that operate within school hours and for school-age pupils but have religious-only education — a proposal seemingly tailor-made to affect some yeshivah ketanahs.
“The affected settings,” states the new proposal, “are most likely to be yeshivos serving those of the Jewish faith, although some others (e.g., some madrassas for those of Muslim faith) may also be affected if attendance at them is full-time.”
While there are no official figures for the number of targeted institutions, there are thought to be more than a dozen unregistered yeshivah ketanahs in London and Manchester, with the majority in London’s Stamford Hill neighborhood. Currently operating as lightly regulated youth clubs, these yeshivos will be threatened with closure if they continue in their current format.
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