The government of the UK is now showing a measure of flexibility regarding official inspections of schools in the chareidi community, inspections intended to ensure compliance to the mandated curriculum, part of which objectionable to the chareidi tzibur.

In May 2018, Rabbi Aharon Klein of the Belzer community in London warned there was no future for the chareidim in England due to new rules set down by the Education Ministry, seeking to compel a change in the curriculum in chareidi schools.

Three months earlier, the Av Beis Din in Gateshead, HaGaon HaRav Shraga Feivel Zimmerman Shlita issued a similar warning, stating “Jews will have to leave England before long.”

Last month more than 7,000 Orthodox Jews gathered for a massive Yom Tefillah about the looming troubling education reforms.

It has since been learned government officials may be willing to relax some of the new rules which have caused alarm among the chareidi tzibur. The Jewish Chronicle reports that Chinuch UK, which was formed to address the education crisis and protect chareidi mosdos, report officials from Ofsted earlier in the week said “a first step” was made towards resolving the issue of inspection of chareidi schools. Clearly, it is too early to declare a victory, but there is reason for cautious optimism.

Chinuch UK reports the head of independent schools in the Department of Education, Mr. Peter Swift, signaled at the meeting the guidelines that are going to be enforced as not as they appeared in the original document, which caused widespread alarm in chareidi tzibur.

However, the reality is that over recent years, chareidi schools have repeatedly failed state inspections, leading to mounting tensions between Ofsted and Chinuch UK. Despite the severity of the situation, the chareidi schools remain firm in their refusal to include certain subject matter in their curriculum, such as toeiva relations and other unacceptable realities that are socially acceptable today R”L in the non-Jewish and non-religious world.

Chinuch UK Chairman David Landau is quoted by the Chronicle saying, “We were all impressed by Ofsted’s openness about what has gone wrong and the genuine will to turn things around”.

Landau is signaling that change may come, albeit not immediately, but nevertheless there is room for cautious optimism. For one thing, the chief inspector of the Department of Education for the London District, Mike Sheridan, visited a number of chareidi schools last week. They passed inspection, and now, he is heading to schools in Gateshead for inspection.

Twelve representatives of Chinuch UK from N. London, Manchester, Gateshead and North-West London were among those in attendance at the meeting, which was arranged by the Jewish Leadership Council’s Education Division along with Rabbi David Meyer, Executive Director of Partnerships for Jewish Schools. Rabbi Meyer arranged the meeting, which was chaired by Lord Polak, with the latter playing a critical role in efforts to find a solution to the crisis. In addition to the previous mentioned, a number of Ofsted officials also attended the meeting.

Rabbonim are being consulted and Chinuch UK will distribute instructions to schools how to deal with inspections in accordance to the position of the rabbonim.

Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, a is a non-ministerial department of the UK government, reporting to Parliament.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)