Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development
Editor and Book Reviews Editor: John Edwards (St Francis Xavier University, Canada)
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Volume: 18 Number: 6 Page: 443–450
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How Much English Has the British Education Act Required? The Secretary of State for Education vs. a Hasidic Yiddish-speaking School
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Joan Abraham-Glinert
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Alone among British immigrant minorities, the Hasidim, an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish group, maintain their own complete school system, in which males devote themselves entirely to Hebrew religious texts- taught
entirely in their heritage vernacular, Yiddish- save a couple of hours at the day's end for statutory secular study of English and maths. The Hasidim insist that this adequately prepares their youth spiritually
and economically for adulthood. A complaint filed by the Department of Education & Science in 1983 that a Hasidic school was not providing 'suitable preparation for adult life in Britain' under the
Education Act led in 1985 to an application in the High Court for a judicial review, but following the judgement the Department withdrew its action without explanation. The Hasidim have since maintained
their curriculum unchanged, and no further complaints have been filed. This paper analyses the views expressed in the case, in the light of interviews with Hasidim and British educational policy on immigrant
language and culture.
© Multilingual Matters
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