Search
Close this search box.

Quebec Plans Stricter Rules For Hasidic Home-Schooled Students


The following is via CBC News:

The Quebec government wants to further tighten the rules for home-schooling children, two years after the previous government introduced its own measures to deal with a controversy surrounding Hasidic schools.

Education Minister Jean-François Roberge says the changes proposed Wednesday to the existing law would ensure students are taught a full range of subjects, such as history and science, as outlined in the provincial curriculum.

The changes would also make it easier to track and evaluate students learning at home, he said.

“All children in Quebec are entitled to the same opportunities to succeed, and those receiving home-schooling should not be an exception,” Roberge said Wednesday.

Roberge wants the stronger regulations to be in place by the start of the next school year. The Education Ministry estimates 5,000 students would be affected.

The current law, passed in November 2017 by the former Liberal government, was drafted following controversy over Hasidic Jewish schools operating without the Education Ministry’s knowledge or approval.

There was a sharp rise in home-schooling following a crackdown by the Quebec government on Hasidic schools.

Many of the Hasidic children enrolled in home-schooling programs still attend private schools, where they receive religious instruction. At home, they are taught standard subject matter.

Premier François Legault was critical of the law when it was passed, saying there should be more detailed minimum requirements and rules around standardized testing.

He argued that every child in Quebec should be forced to follow an identical curriculum, and those who learn outside the traditional system should have to pass the same tests as children in the regular school system.

Liberal MNA Gaétan Barrette pointed out the plan comes a day before the CAQ is expected to table its secularism bill. He suggested both are likely to stir debate within the population.

“It is not by chance that it’s coming out today,” he said.

A trial is scheduled for next year involving Yohanen and Shifra Lowen, former Hasidic Jews who claim the Quebec government didn’t do enough to ensure they received a proper education.

(Source: CBC News)



5 Responses

  1. How would home schooled students in families where Yiddish or English is spoken at home, end up learning French?

    Also, in America, many public schools have very low standards for graduation (reflecting both class and race issues), so a home schooler only has to achieve at the level of the worst student who “passes”. Canada is much less divided by class and race, making it harder to make such an argument.

  2. All the secular education kids receive do not improve their chances for success. All anyone really needs is how to read and write and do math. Anything else they can learn on their own if they desire. What does history or science do for anyone? I am a grandmother and successful in what I do without needing any of the subjects I learned in school. I happened to have enjoyed school and did like science and other subjects but, it shouldn’t be a requirement for kids to have to learn them.

  3. Bas1,
    Even if everything you wrote Is accurate & that is dubious and debatable
    This is only because so much of Education is driven by devolving social agendas

    There’s one more subject that ought to be added: applied mathematics i.e. Scientific formulae

  4. “It is Time for Truth”, “devolving social agendas”!
    Just like yours, with your hatred of Torah values and your hatred of Lev Tahor!

Leave a Reply


Popular Posts