Fire safety breaches put lives of pupils in illegal religious schools at risk

30 June, 2017

44 fire safety breaches were found by the fire brigade at suspected illegal schools in Hackney in the last three years

Serious fire safety breaches recorded in illegal, unregistered religious schools may be placing thousands of children at significant risk, it has been revealed in Schools Week. Humanists UK believes that the findings only underline the need for the Government and local authorities to urgently shut such schools down.

In the last three years, at least five fires and 44 failures to comply with fire safety orders have been recorded at suspected illegal Charedi Jewish schools in Hackney alone, figures described as ‘high’ by the London Fire Brigade. The 44 fire safety breaches include failures to provide ‘a suitable method of giving warning in case of fire’, and a failure to provide sufficient emergency exits. Fire safety inspectors also reported teachers and children sleeping in at least three of the suspected illegal schools, despite conditions being entirely inappropriate for such use.

In two cases, the fire brigade issued ‘prohibition notices’ on the suspected illegal schools, an enforcement measure short only of prosecution, and issued when the safety of a premises ‘may constitute an imminent risk of death or serious injury’.

Hackney is known to contain as many as 20-30 illegal religious schools, serving in excess of 2,000 children from the strictly Orthodox Charedi Jewish community. Earlier this year, at the prompting of Humanists UK, the council’s Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission launched an inquiry into the schools in a bid to finally tackle the decades-old problem.

In a written submission to the inquiry, Humanists UK, which works alongside former pupils of illegal schools to highlight the issue, set out the evidence that children trapped in the schools are educationally neglected, deliberately isolated from the world outside their community, and reportedly physically abused by staff. The submission also made a number of recommendations aimed at addressing these problems, including the registration and inspection of out-of-school settings (consulted upon by the DfE more than a year ago), and a mandatory register of home educated children to identify those who are actually being educated in illegal schools.

Responding to this latest news, Humanists UK Education Campaigner Jay Harman commented, ‘We have been campaigning on illegal religious schools for a number of years now, and it has become well-known that the children trapped inside them receive almost no education beyond the study of scripture, that they are prevented from having any contact whatsoever with the society outside of their immediate community, and that abuse and physical punishment in the schools is reported as being commonplace by former pupils.

‘What is less well-known, however, is how appalling the conditions are in the schools, which tend to be hosted in dilapidated and entirely unfit buildings, often haphazardly converted from disused, tumbling-down residential houses.

‘But despite being fully aware of both the existence and whereabouts of these places, the relevant authorities have ignored the problem for decades. We certainly hope that this fresh warning from the fire brigade that the children are in imminent risk of death or serious injury will finally provoke the Government into action, and we will certainly be raising these concerns as part of our ongoing campaigning.’

Notes

For further comment or information please contact Humanists UK Education Campaigns Manager Jay Harman on 0207 324 3078 or jay@humanists.uk.

Read Schools Week’s piece: http://schoolsweek.co.uk/revealed-pupils-lives-at-risk-after-fire-safety-breaches-at-illegal-schools/

Read the BHA’s previous news item ‘Children in illegal religious schools being failed, says Humanists UK’: https://humanists.uk/2017/03/27/children-in-illegal-religious-schools-being-failed-says-bha/

Read the BHA’s full response to Hackney’s inquiry: https://humanists.uk/wp-content/uploads/20170315-Final-BHA-response-to-Hackney-Council-consultation.pdf 

Read the BHA’s previous news item ‘BHA reveals illegal Jewish school allowed to stay open for years despite repeated Ofsted warnings’: https://humanists.uk/2016/01/15/bha-reveals-illegal-jewish-school-allowed-to-stay-open-for-years-despite-repeated-ofsted-warnings/

Read the BHA’s previous news item ‘BHA exposé: unregistered “faith” schools enjoying charitable status despite operating illegaly’: https://humanists.uk/2016/03/31/bha-expose-unregistered-faith-schools-enjoying-charitable-status-despite-operating-illegally/

Read more about the BHA’s work on ‘faith’ schools: https://humanists.uk/campaigns/schools-and-education/faith-schools/

The British Humanist Association is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people who seek to live ethical and fulfilling lives on the basis of reason and humanity. It promotes a secular state and equal treatment in law and policy of everyone, regardless of religion or belief.