Tel-Chai Nation

This is but an example of how insular ultra-Orthodox school systems are jeopardizing the lives of their subjects by not teaching safety steps:

A group of ultra-Orthodox Jewish students nearly drowned after being taken on a hiking expedition by unqualified teachers working at an illegal faith school that the Government has known about for five years but failed to shut down.

The children, who were dressed in traditional Orthodox clothes instead of hiking gear for the trip on 6 June and were unable to read warning signs because they can't speak any English, had to be rescued by emergency services after the tide came and nearly swept them out to sea.

The Independent understands that the teachers put the children’s lives in further danger because, once they realised they were at risk of drowning, they initially contacted community leaders in Stamford Hill, north London, instead of contacting authorities for fear of the illegal school being discovered.

The school is understood to be one of dozens which an investigation by The Independent revealed in April are operating illegally in the Stamford Hill area of Hackney. More than 1,000 children are believed to be taught at the ultra-orthodox Jewish schools which follow only a strict religious education as they belong to very devout orthodox Jewish families.

Government authorities have known about many of the schools for several years, including the school involved in the hiking expedition for five years, but failed to shut them down.

I've got a hunch they won't bother now that Muslim mayor Khan is in charge; the Satmar Haredis probably supported him because of their potential anti-Israelism and he surely knows they could make great allies. So he's bound to give them some backing.

The adults are said to have told authorities they were from a community centre in Stamford Hill, while the boys reportedly told authorities that they were “just friends [who decided] to group together and go for a day out”.

However, concerned members of the local community have told The Independent that the boys have been recognised as being pupils of an illegal Stamford Hill school out on a school trip with untrained and unregistered teachers. This has also been reiterated by a news report in Israeli media which describes the children as belonging to an illegal ultra-Orthodox Jewish school in Stamford Hill.

It is understood that the men lacked the basic awareness of child protection and safety issues involved due to lack of training.

It is also understood that the men and children walked past the warning signs as they were unable to speak or read English and were further endangered because they weren't wearing safe hiking gear for religious reasons.

Ah, see? In their twisted vision, religion takes full precedence over safety.

A spokesperson for GesherEU, a charity which supports people leaving the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, said: “This is not the first time children’s lives have been put in danger by, apparently, incompetent staff. Next time we could be seeing mothers wailing at the funerals of their sons or daughters unless ministers, the Department for Education and Hackney listen to our call for these settings to be properly monitored, for them to employ properly trained staff, and to ensure that these children are given the skills and secular education they will require to have choices and contribute to society when they are older.

“Both the Department for Education and Hackney continually say that they are liaising with each other, and nothing seems to happen. We know that the legislation relating to the monitoring, safeguarding and education standards in independent schools, unregistered settings and for home-educated children, is confusing and that it is inadequate when fundamentalist religious bodies are set on following their own narrow curriculum. We urge them to go to the ministers responsible to push through urgent changes to the legislation to give them the powers to make real change."

But not only is it possible no action will be taken because Khan could support them as he could support illegal madrassas in London, it's possible the parents won't file charges against the teachers either because their spiritual overlords oppose that. That leaves the question of whether the police will press charges for endangering the safety of children with their offensive conduct. For all we know, they probably won't do it either. That's incompetence in Britain for you.

Labels: haredi corruption, londonistan, Moonbattery