A legal bid to extend the provision of free school meals to children in independent strictly Orthodox Jewish primary schools has failed in the High Court.
Two mothers of children from the Satmar Chasidic community sought a judicial review to challenge the Department for Education, arguing that its current policy was discriminatory.
Since 2014, children in state-aided schools have been entitled to a free meal in reception and Years 1 and 2.
But the mothers argued that there were no state schools that catered for the specific religious needs of their community and that free school meals should apply to independent Charedi schools.
In March last year, representatives of the Chinuch UK, the Charedi education umbrella group, and the Interlink Foundation, which provides services to strictly Orthodox charities, appealed to the DfE to extend the provision.
But turning down their request, the department responded in June: “Whilst the claimants argued that they have no choice other than to attend independent schools on account of their faith, Charedi parents have exercised their choice to educate their children in the independent sector…”
Chinuch UK’s director of communal affairs Motty Pinter told the court that 85 per cent of Charedi infants attend private schools. There were no “religiously acceptable” local state schools.
The Charedi community faced a high level of deprivation and schools were in a financially precarious position, he explained, noting that three years ago, the Mayor of London made £450,000 available to alleviate food insecurity among the Charedi communities of Hackney and Haringey.
One of the mothers said she was in work and received universal benefit, but her husband did not work as he was the carer of one of their children who had learning difficulties.
“Sending our children to Chasidic schools where the Kodesh [Jewish studies] curriculum is taught in Yiddish is not a choice for us, but is the only way to preserve our language and customs and to provide our children with the confidence that comes from learning among peers who share the same values and practices,” she said,
“It is unthinkable that our children would be educated away from their peers and community.”
Neither of the families paid fees because of their circumstances and both received food support from the community.
But ruling in favour of the DfE, Mr Justice Mansfield said that the families could send their children to state-aided Jewish faith schools “or the schools which they attend could seek to become voluntary-aided”, he suggested. “That they do not do so is a matter of choice. While that choice may be based on strong religious and cultural preference, it is, nonetheless, a choice.”
He also gave a number of other reasons for his decision, including that “to make an exception for the Charedi community would very likely lead to a range of claims by other communities, which would be difficult to determine”.
In London, a subsidy from the Mayor of London covers free meals for children in state schools additionally from Years 3 to 6. But two years a similar legal challenge brought on behalf of Charedi private school children failed at court.
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