Education and Young People

Issues

Lifelong learning is a concept that perhaps unites all streams of Judaism and Jewish communities. It manifests itself in UK’s 42 Jewish schools (most of which are in London), through multiple youth movements and religious institutions and across organisations such as Limmud. It’s no surprise therefore that education, skills and employment are consistently amongst the community’s key concerns.

Jewish Faith Schools

Around 60% of Jewish children, 26,000 nationally, attend a Jewish school – giving them the opportunity to enjoy a Jewish education, rooted in British values and the national curriculum. While some of these operate in the private sector, the vastmajority receive state support, many of which are in fact models for other schools, promoting links between schools of all faiths and none, ensuring children understand others with backgrounds different to their own.^{1 & 2}

However, the demand on Jewish school places continues to outstrip supply, and a clear commitment to funding Jewish-based education is needed from local authorities and central government to ensure that the growing population of Jews have the opportunity to attend a Jewish school.

Informal Education

Informal education is a cornerstone of the Jewish community. Jewish youth organisations build the self-confidence and interpersonal skills of young people, while transmitting Jewish identity to the next generation. Informal education is not just a young people’s policy: it is an anti-crime policy, a community cohesion policy, and a mental health policy.

Child Safeguarding and Training

There is also a thriving Jewish nursery and childminder sector that often finds premises in communal institutions such as synagogues. Childcare affordability is a critical issue for the Jewish community, as it is for the wider population.

While the rising expectations of child safeguarding are of critical importance, a challenge to the sector can be the cost and variable quality of training. There is inadequate independent monitoring of whether that training is up to standard. The GLA could take a role in assessing local authority child safeguarding training and advocating for decreased costs. A kitemarking scheme could, in time, be extended to non-local authority providers. There is also a lack of opportunities to share best practice across the informal education sector. If the Mayor of London could facilitate this, practitioners across the sector would benefit.

Pledges

We’re asking London’s MPs, Mayor, Assembly Members and council leaders to make the following pledges:

Pledge 1:

To support and champion Jewish schools in London, planning for future population growth and greaternumbers of Jewish school places.

Pledge 3:

Provide accountability for local authority provided child safeguarding training in London, so that informal education providers can be assured of the quality of provision.

Pledge 2:

To recognise the role of Jewish youth organisations in their contribution both to the Jewish community and through social action to wider society, and to encourage their continued support by local government and agencies within the city.

¹ Jews in the United Kingdom in 2013, JPR
² Jewish Leadership Council Report on the Future of Jewish Schools