Curricular Choices of Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Communities: Translating International Human Rights Law to Education Policy

Abstract

This paper employs the provisions of international human rights law in order to analyze whether and how liberal states should regulate Haredi educational practices, which sanctify the exclusive focus on religious studies in schools for boys. It conceptualizes the conflict between the right to acceptable education and the right to adaptable education in international human rights law, and analyzes four case studies of Haredi education that exemplify different socio-legal approaches towards this conflict. The case studies show how education laws are transformed along the cogwheels of education policy, in which there are plural normative orders and many agents who implement them. Based on the case studies, I suggest that policies providing financial incentives for implementing educational standards may facilitate the realization of the right to acceptable education in Haredi schools more than policies devised to enforce this right. I also suggest stipulations for effective conditional-funding policies.