The unstoppable rise of Jewish schools

the United Kingdom, published by

Nearly 55 per cent of children in London go to Jewish high schools

the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) and the Board of Deputies.

In contrast to the drop in the Jewish population, "the growth of the Jewish school sector is all the more remarkable", say authors L Daniel Staetsky and Jonathan Boyd of the JPR.

The majority of Jewish schoolchildren - 57 per cent - go to Charedi schools, whereas they were in the minority a couple of decades ago.

Most Jewish schools are strictly Orthodox, with 97 of these compared to 42 in the "mainstream" sector.

The number of strictly Orthodox schoolchildren has more than doubled to 134 per cent in 20 years.

But the strictly Orthodox figure is an undercount, with 1,400 children aged from 11 to 15 estimated to be in unregistered schools or yeshivot. Half of Charedi boys in this age group are not being educated in a registered British school, including one third of those aged from 11 to 13.

While the dramatic growth of the Charedi population in places such as Stamford Hill, Gateshead and Manchester accounts partly for the rise, mainstream Jewish schooling has also become increasingly popular.

Enrolment in mainstream Jewish schools has increased by almost half - 45 per cent - in 20 years, while in London, it has risen by close to three- quarters. By comparison, enrolment dropped by 23 per cent in the regions.

At the latest count, nearly 55 per cent of mainstream Jewish children in London attended a Jewish secondary school, while nearly half were at a Jewish primary school.

In the country as a whole, 43 per cent of mainstream Jewish children are enrolled in a Jewish school. There is a small minority, 14 per cent, of children from other faiths who attend Jewish schools.

The report does not detail why parents are increasingly opting for Jewish schools. While some argue it is due to the desire that their children receive a stronger Jewish grounding, the report notes that there may be other more "prosaic" factors such as the affordability of private education, academic excellence, or the fact that the school is close to home.

But "as more parents choose to send their children to Jewish schools, it becomes a more socially acceptable and, indeed, important thing for others to do in a way that was not the case a generation or two ago", the authors say.

"Push factors away from general schools might also play a part - concerns about being one of a very small number of Jews among a student body, fears of antisemitism, anxieties about a child having too few Jewish friends." They also suggest that "apprehension about - or rejection of - multiculturalism may be involved".

Whereas there were just 5,200 Jewish children in Jewish schools in the 1950s, the number had doubled by the next decade, more than tripled by the 1990s and risen to 30,900 in 2014/15.

Compared to the numbers of Jewish children in Jewish schools, a quarter of British children attend faith schools (and just over three per cent of British Muslims attend Muslim schools).

Despite the huge take-up of Jewish schooling, Drs Staetsky and Boyd say "we know little about how the dramatic changes that have occurred... are impacting on Jewish life".

There remains "little discussion" about the knock-on effect of Jewish schooling on other organisations such as youth movements or chedarim.

As for the future, they find no evidence of a decline in demand but recommend more research to predict the need for Jewish school places. This could be done by collecting information on application rates to Jewish schools along with projecting the number of Jewish births.

Attempts to address the large number of Charedi boys outside the school system should be done with "the full co-operation of the strictly Orthodox community", they add.

Solutions should be explored which "integrate adherence to a strictly Orthodox lifestyle and successful functioning in the modern labour market".