Andrew Cohen, the president of the Federation of Synagogues, has urged Education Secretary Damian Hinds to exempt strictly Orthodox schools from having to teach about same-sex relationships.
Only this week, chief inspector of Ofsted, Amanda Spielman, reiterated her view that schools should talk about same-sex couples, in response to protests by Muslim and Christian parents at a primary school in Birmingham which has taught about LGBT rights and gender identity.
In his letter, Mr Cohen wrote that Charedi schools “produce tolerant, respectful and open-minded adults who interact naturally with, and integrate easily into, wider society”.
But he added: “Our traditions demand that the teaching of issues of personal intimacy should be left entirely to the parents, who have always decided the appropriate age and the appropriate way in which our children are educated in these matters.”
