News
School involved in Chasidic sect’s ban on women drivers is rejected for state aid
August 10, 2015 17:16
A Chasidic school in north London which earlier this year threatened to ban pupils whose mothers drive has had an application to become state-aided rejected.
Beis Malka girls’ school, one of two schools runs by the Belz Chasidic sect in Stamford Hill, learned this week that Hackney Council had decided against granting it the status of a voluntary-aided, maintained school.
The council rejected the application because of the amount of funding the school would need to pay for new buildings.
In a statement it said it had made its decision because “information provided by the school identified significant funding over the next five years related to require building works on school premises.
“It was also noted that the amount identified could be construed as the minimum amount and that other expenditure could come to light at a later date.”
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While financial considerations had informed the Council’s “key decision”, it also highlighted several areas that led to the proposal’s rejection.
These included: “The school’s coverage of and capacity to deliver the National Curriculum, the quality of teaching provision, provision for special educational needs and disabilities, unresolved issues relating to the long-term viability of the school site, the condition of the school buildings and serious concerns about health and safety.”
Finally, the school’s “compliance with the Equality Act 2010” was also a factor. The council declined to comment further.
“In each of these areas, it was judged that Beis Malka was not in a satisfactory position to meet the expectations and demands that becoming a voluntary-aided, maintained school would entail,” the statement said.
In May, the Belz Chasidim hit the headlines after a letter was sent to parents of Beis Malka and the boys’ Talmud Torah Machzikei Hadass school, advising them that women driving went against “the traditional rules of modesty in our camp”.
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The community’s leaders said the Belzer Rebbe in Israel, Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach, had advised them to introduce a policy of barring pupils if their mothers drove them to school.
In June, the Equality and Human Rights Commission wrote to both schools, saying it would be unlawful to deny children entry on such grounds.
The commission later said the schools had given a “satisfactory response” and had promised to not exclude or refuse admission to any child on the basis of their mother driving. Both schools are rated “good” by Ofsted.
