Recently concerns have been expressed about both unmonitored home schooling and unregistered schools. Both may make it difficult for some children to access a broad curriculum and be prepared for modern life. There have also been alarming reports about the textbooks being used in some Muslim schools, and today the Guardian has published an account of how textbooks are being redacted in an Orthodox Jewish school in order to remove references to homosexuality, cover up women dressed in a way perceived to be immodest, and censor pictures of men and women socialising.
A spokesman for Yesodey Hatorah said it was “old news” and it was well known that the school redacted textbooks. “This policy has nothing to do homophobia or misogyny, but is to protect our girls from sexualisation in line with our parents’ wishes and religious beliefs,” he said.
This isn’t the first time this school’s been in the spotlight for censoring the curriculum – in 2013 they were discovered to have redacted exam questions on evolution.