Last update - 00:00 29/10/2006
U.K. Jews welcome decision against quotas in faith-based schools
By Assaf Uni, Haaretz Correspondent
LONDON - Great Britain's Jewish community welcomed the government's decision on Thursday not to require state parochial schools to reserve at least 25 percent of slots for students from other faiths.
"We welcome the latest decision but will wait for the official announcement after the House of Lords debate tomorrow before issuing our own announcement," a spokesman for the Jewish lobby, which fought the initiative, said to Haaretz Saturday.
Conservative Party officials have already signaled their intention to fight the bill's withdrawal in tomorrow's session and to reintroduce the demand for the integration of religious schools.
After a week of protests by Jewish, Muslim and Christian educators, Education Minister Alan Johnson announced Thursday his decision to drop the initiative, which he had introduced the previous week. He said the move came after a "voluntary arrangement" was reached with the Catholic Church and the Church of England, and after some Muslim schools indicated their willingness to admit children from other faiths.
Lord Baker, a former Conservative education minister, yesterday accused Johnson of making the "fastest U-turn in British political history" and announced his intention to introduce his own amendment, which the Tories are not expected to support.
Great Britain has 6,700 faith-based schools, which receive significant state funding. Most are run by the Catholic or Anglican church. There are 37 Jewish schools, nine Muslim ones and two Sikh schools. The initiative was aimed partly at forcing the new Islamic schools to integrate, but raised suspicions in the Jewish community regarding the possible effects on their educational institutions.