London faith school criticised for not educating pupils on LGBT issues
By Will Stroude
A Hasidic Jewish school in London has come under fire from Ofsted for not teaching its pupils about sexual minorities or trans issues.
The Talmus Torah Machzikei Hadass school bases its educational policy on “unconditional adherence to the Shulchan Aruch”, or code of Jewish law.
In an excerpt of the school’s Ofsted report published by the Evening Standard, it was revealed that “pupils are shielded from learning about particular differences, such as sexual orientation [and] the explicit teaching of all the protected characteristics, specifically those that relate to gender or sexuality, is avoided.”
The all-boys school in Hackney has both acknowledged that it doesn’t teach pupils about these issues and that it doesn’t have any plans to, meaning it is now listed as not meeting the standards required for an independent school.
The school was recently forced to repeal a ban on women driving to the school gates after it was found to be unlawful under the Equality Act 2010.
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