The JC’s Freedom of Information request for details of inspections of Charedi schools is partly academic now because of a change in educational guidelines. But it relates to an issue that continues to create problems for strictly Orthodox schools.
As part of its counter-extremism policy, the government introduced requirements for schools to teach respect for other people. Guidance for independent schools added they should “pay regard” to the characteristics of people protected from discrimination under equality law.
These “protected characteristics” include sexual orientation and gender reassignment. Charedi leaders insisted their schools could not talk about LGBT people in class but that the guidelines in any case did not specify that all protected characteristics had to be covered.
Ofsted thought differently, understanding the Department for Education’s guidelines to mean all protected characteristics.
So the JC wanted to see how some Charedi schools passed the equality test — bearing in mind rabbis’ opposition to the inclusion of LGBT issues.
Since our FOI request, the guidelines were changed last spring to make clear that all protected characteristics should be covered.
However, the revised guidelines also allow the schools discretion in deciding when certain topics are “age appropriate” for their pupils. A similar provision is part of the guidance on the new relationships and sex education curriculum which comes into effect later this year.
But who gets to decide what is age appropriate? There appears to be a difference between government guidelines and Ofsted’s interpretation.
The DfE’s advice to parents on RSE, for instance, says that secondary schools “should cover” LGBT content. Primary schools are “ strongly encouraged and enabled to cover LGBT content when teaching about different types of families.”
In other words, primary schools may be encouraged to teach this but it is not compulsory.
However, Ofsted inspectors are continuing to criticise Charedi primary schools for not including LGBT issues.
It is surely ridiculous for the government to give schools the flexibility to decide what is age appropriate but allow Ofsted in effect to take the decision out of their hands.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson should step in and sort this out.
