Member

Some critics claim that the strictly Orthodox community fails to teach basic skills. Yet these charges come from anti-faith lobbyists, not educational charities. Engagement with a Bill about child welfare should teach us to listen to small minority voices and not only to those who are most powerful and vocal. Humanists UK is entitled to its views, but Orthodox Jews are entitled to their faith. In reality, much work is under way to strengthen home-schooling standards and resources. I therefore urge the Minister to accept this amendment, so that yeshivas are recognised for what they are: faith spaces operating alongside home education and not unfaithfully forced into a category in which they do not belong, even if they are, to quote, “too Jewish”.