Despite the ongoing mantra calling on chareidim to ‘mainstream’ by sharing in the burden by serving in the IDF and agreeing to include secular subjects in schools, when it comes down to it, chareidim in Israel remain unwanted and the target of discrimination in schools, the IDF and workplace.

In its latest move, Israel’s Council of Higher Education (CHE) is opposing two schools which are trying to introduce programs exclusively for women in the hope of attracting chareidi women. However, the council will not hear of it, demanding coed programs with the exception of institutions of higher education that have special approval to maintain gender separation.

In fact, two schools that have separated males and females are being punished for daring to do so. The CHE has punished and reprimanded two academic institutions that separated men and women. The Azrieli College of Engineering in Jerusalem was punished after it opened an engineering curricula for industrial engineering exclusively for women as well as an undergraduate program in psychology. The school was reprimanded and required to cancel the program. The school was not penalized since it was its first violation.

The CHE maintains there is no room for gender-separated programs since they exclude segments of the population on the basis of religion, race or gender. The CHE has permitted special cases, programs designed to meet the needs of chareidim but this is not permitted for so-called ‘regular institutions’.

The school explained that there is a need for women engineers today, and that is why the program was developed. Simultaneously, the psychology program for women was launched, and Rebitzen Tzipi Lau, wife of Chief Rabbi Dovid Lau Shlita was enlisted to serve as the president of the program. However, the CHE would not hear of it.

According to the Walla News report, the council a number of months ago decided to against Azrieli towards killing the programs.

The CHE has also asked for clarification from Achva College, which has since stopped advertising a program exclusively for women. Once again, with the exception of the chareidi schools, the CHE opposes gender-separated classes as per its decision of March 2015 since it feels higher education must be premised on equality, not separation.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)