Anglo-Jewish Education: Day Schools, State Funding and Religious Education in State Schools

Abstract

This chapter explores dramatic shifts in the provision of Jewish education in post-Second World War England. These developments were not, in the main, internally driven, but occurred in response to cultural and demographic changes in English society at large, as well as changes in government policies. In particular, both multiculturalism and the decision to replace the academically-oriented Grammar schools with Comprehensive schools serving a spectrum of student populations, are shown to have had significant impact on trends in the provision of Jewish education. The chapter explains the shift in parental attitudes to denominational schooling, especially the growth in acceptance of Jewish day schools; the constraints imposed by governmental criteria for the funding of faith schools; and the changing profile of religious education in non-denominational State schools. It also examines ramifications of the ongoing debate over faith schools in the multicultural context. Education in the ultra-Orthodox sector, which diverges from the patterns characteristic of mainstream Anglo-Jewry, is also addressed.