The following is an unedited article by Independent UK:
An orthodox Jewish school which operated illegally for 40 years and does not teach children English has been ordered to shut down.
The Charedi Talmud Torah Tashbar school in Stamford Hill, north London has been ordered to close by the Department for Education next month after Ofsted inspectors warned that it was failing to meet the “minimum” standards required.
Inspectors who investigated the school, which has more than 200 pupils, said that its curriculum, taught in Hebrew, encouraged “cultural and ethnic insularity because it is so narrow and almost exclusively rooted in the study of the Torah”.
The school was found to “severely restrict the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils” and prevent them from “developing a wider, deeper understanding of different faiths, communities, cultures and lifestyles, including those of England”.
The school’s failings are spelled out in a series of Ofsted reports into the school after it applied to be a private school. The reports between 2012-14 were disclosed under Freedom of Information requests.
According to the reports, the school states that “as a matter of religious principle” it does not allow pupils to learn English, nor provide for any secular education.
Despite the school failing to meet the minimum standards three times, no action has been taken to shut it down and it continues to operate.
Sir Michael Wilshaw, the Chief Inspector of Schools, disclosed in December that Ofsted was considering prosecuting those involved in the running of unregistered Islamic religious schools.
A Government consultation on combating schools which “promote intolerance” will end later this month.
The British Humanist Association, which campaigns for a crackdown on all illegal “faith” schools, welcomed the decision but called on the Education Secretary to move against scores of other schools like it.
“We’re glad that the Government has now moved to shut this particular school down… However, there are clearly many more out there just like it. The situation revealed by these reports is simply outrageous and those in government who have failed to act in the past ought to be ashamed of themselves for standing idly by while thousands of children have their childhoods stolen.
“Every year, every month, every week that these places are allowed to stay open, a huge number of children remain isolated, indoctrinated, and very likely abused, so we will certainly be writing to the Government to ask that action is taken far more swiftly in the case of other schools than it has been here.”
A Department for Education spokesman said: “It is a criminal offence to operate an unregistered independent school. This school’s application for registration has been rejected and on 30 December it was informed of this decision. It has been told to close by 12 February.”
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12 Responses
Every child must & should be taught the language of the land especially if emergencies are occurring.
how tolerant of them.
The British Humanist Association. In other words, a bunch of disguting rashaim. There is no such thing as a decent humanist.
If you don’t like the laws of the country you are in, you are free to move.
Whats wrong with learning basic English, math, and science?
What is wrong in teaching basic Torah?
Nothing wrong except u need to hire properly trained teachers to teach the subjects.
Its not a matter of whether or not you agree with the cheder this sets a precedence. Sooner or later they will find poblems with us not allowing intermarriage or force our institutions to openly encourage same sex marriage.
This is the same western culture that exists in America.
Are they also cracking down on Islamic medrassas that teach bomb-making, stabbing, and taking over host countries?
Finally someone is doing something in order that the children should at least learn the language! It’s a pity that our own people cannot or do not want to make the changes and it must be done with a hammer.
dina d’malchusa dina: you have to obey the laws of the land, but here you may leave and go some where else if you don’t like it. Your choice….
to all you commenters
if you read the article carefully you’ll see that this is a public school. they tried to become a private school but were rejected for some reason. so this is not reshaim or anti semitism its simple law enforcement. a public school has to teach by government standards thats all. theres always more to the story.