Family & Education
Head of Gateshead Yeshiva tells Strictly Orthodox community to leave the UK if the Schools Bill passes
February 19, 2025 12:41
One of the most influential Charedi rabbis in the country has warned Strictly Orthodox families they must leave the country should the Schools Bill go through.
Rabbi Avrohom Gurwicz, the head of Gateshead Yeshiva – the largest yeshiva in Europe and one of the most prestigious in the Orthodox world – has said the bill poses a “terrible danger” to Charedi people, who number more than 75,000 in Britain.
In a letter that was widely displayed in Charedi spaces throughout the country including on synagogue boards in Stamford Hill, Rabbi Gurwicz wrote: “Always, in past generations, great leaders expressed their concern about the education of children, as reflected in the words of Judah: ‘How shall I go up to my father, and the lead is not with me?’
“Now, in light of the terrible danger that a law might be enacted to mandate the education of our children without Torah and without faith – a law that would require anyone with sons or daughters of school age to uproot their residence from this state to another state that allows education according to the tradition passed down from generation to generation. It is our sacred duty to pray to the Almighty and do everything in our power to prevent this danger. And one who comes to purify is assisted from above.”
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which last month passed a second reading in the House of Commons, would, among other proposals, regulate independent educational institutions, and require local authorities to maintain registers of children who are home-schooled or taught outside of mainstream school settings.
Britain is home to the world's third largest Charedi community outside Israel and the United States. Upwards of 1,500 boys from the age of 13 learn in unregistered yeshivot in Stamford Hill alone, which are not legally classified as schools and therefore not subject to Ofsted inspections.
For over a decade, the Charedi community has opposed government educational proposals which they claim could lead to them being forced to teach secular subjects and “British values” of respect and tolerance. This could include the acknowledgement of same-sex couples and transgender people.
The Department for Education said: “This measure promotes equality of opportunity for all groups and communities and does not prevent parents securing a faith-based education for their children, if that is their wish.
“It merely requires people responsible for educational settings which provide full-time education to children to register with the Secretary of State and be inspected against agreed standards.
“This is already required of those responsible for independent schools and the change will ensure more children receive a safe and suitable education which is subject to regular inspection and greater oversight.”