Family & Education
One in five Jewish parents more likely to move child from mainstream to Jewish school after October 7
JPR report ‘raises critical questions’ about how antisemitism is being handled in schools
September 2, 2024 12:19
JPR report ‘raises critical questions’ about how antisemitism is being handled in schools
September 2, 2024 12:19One in five Jewish parents with children in mainstream schools say they are more likely to send their children to a Jewish school following October 7, according to a new Jewish Policy Research (JPR) survey released today.
The report, entitled Antisemitism in schools: how prevalent is it, and how might it affect parents’ decision about where to educate their children post-October 7 and released to coincide with the opening of the new school year, shows that 20 per cent of parents surveyed said they would be more likely to relocate their children to a Jewish school. This proportion doubles (40 per cent) for parents whose children have experienced antisemitism in and around their school.
Conversely, nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) of Jewish parents with children in mainstream schools say the October 7 attacks and Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas would not affect their choice of where to educate their children.
The report draws on data collected by JPR in June and July 2024, eight months after October 7.
Among the key findings of the report, compiled by JPR Senior Research Fellow Dr Carli Lessof, a little under a quarter (23 per cent) of British Jewish parents surveyed reported that their child or children had experienced antisemitism either at school, in the vicinity of school, or travelling to and from it.
Parents of children attending Jewish schools were more likely to report that their children experienced antisemitism while travelling to and from school than at school, while parents of Jewish children attending mainstream schools said they were significantly more likely to face antisemitism at school (21 per cent of respondents).
The report states that in the past, British Jewish people’s school choices have not been strongly motivated by concerns about antisemitism, which ranked fifth out of six possible motivators, according to a previous survey. JPR said it was aware of cases in the past year of Jewish families putting in requests to Jewish schools for their children, currently at mainstream schools, for places, but said it was too soon to have an understanding of the scale of the phenomenon.
JPR Executive Director Dr Jonathan Boyd said it was “particularly jarring” to see that a quarter of Jewish parents with children in mainstream schools reporting that their child had experienced antisemitism.
“It is also striking to learn that 40 per cent of these parents would be more likely to opt for a Jewish school now, given the choice again,” Boyd said. “Whilst in real terms, these are not huge numbers, they are sufficiently large to potentially affect the delicate balance between supply and demand for places in Jewish schools, so in our post-October 7 context, it becomes more important than ever to monitor any actual changes in preferences if Jewish schools are not to see a repeat of some of the supply/demand issues they have had in the past.”
He said that more concerning was that the findings “raise critical questions for mainstream school administrators about how to manage the issue of antisemitism in their schools, and indeed for government leaders about social cohesion.
“This is part of a growing body of evidence demonstrating how antisemitism can drive Jews away from engagement with wider society, and that should be of concern to anyone who cares about building a more cohesive and understanding society.”
There are currently 136 registered Jewish schools in the UK, with about two-thirds of all Jewish children in the UK – some 36,000 – being educated in this setting. Nearly all children belonging to Charedi families attend Jewish schools, as do an estimated 43 per cent of other Jewish children.