A leading KC has said that the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which could force yeshivot to register as independent schools, was “incompatible” with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The Bill, which, had its second reading in the House of Lords last week, would, if passed, mean full-time yeshivot being obligated to teach about secular issues and subject to authorised inspections.
But Professor Mark Hill KC, a leading figure in the field of religious liberty, whose legal opinion was commissioned by the Yeshiva Liaison Committee, has said that forcing yeshivot to register as independent educational institutions and include secular education amounted to “social engineering and stands in direct violation of Article 2 of Protocol 1” of the European Convention on Human Rights. The article respects the rights of parents to provide their children with an education in accordance with their own religious and philosophical convictions.
He wrote: “The impact and degree of hardship and inconvenience likely to result to the Charedi community is significant.”
According to Hackney Council, around 1,500 boys aged 13 to 16 are currently being educated in yeshivot.
Since the Bill was introduced in December, strictly Orthodox groups have been pressing the government to exempt yeshivot from the new legislation.
As well as demonstrations outside Parliament, in February a petition with 15,000 signatories was delivered to the Department for Education.
But, the DfE has said that it anticipated that instead of registering as independent schools – which is only stipulated for full-time educational providers – yeshivot would change to providing part-time religious education, which would be supplemented by elective home education. Under the new Bill, local authorities would have to keep registers of children being home-schooled.
The DfE argues that “the right of children to a safe education that suitably equips them for adult life should be protected and promoted by legislation”.
But during its second reading in the House of Lords, the Bishop of Manchester, The Right Reverend Prof. David Walker said that many of his Jewish neighbours in Salford, mainly from the strictly Orthodox community, had raised concerns about the Bill, which, he said, could force yeshivot to close.
He said: “[Yeshivot] cannot, and indeed will not, register as educational institutions – that is not what they are.”
He called for “comprehensive consultation with faith communities” regarding this aspect of the Bill.
Rabbi Binyomin Stern, president of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, said: “Yeshivas operate lawfully alongside home education, as part of a long-established and legitimate framework. They are not schools, and they are not illegal.”
A spokesperson for the DfE said the Bill was “based on the principle that full-time educational settings should be regulated to ensure that action can be taken to keep children safe, if needed.
“There is nothing in our proposals which require any body or community to provide an education which is not compatible with their religious faith or cultural values. The Department engages with any stakeholders with an interest in the Bill.”