Illustration photo
Photo: Shaul Golan
Shlomi residents say forced to send kids to religious school
Group of parents in northern border town file High Court petition demanding they be allowed to transfer their kids to secular Western Galilee school. Council head: Petition reeks of political opportunism
Fifteen residents of the northern border town of Shlomi in northern Israel filed a High Court petition on Tuesday against Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar and Shlomi Local Council head Gabi Na'aman demanding they be allowed to transfer their children to a secular school in the Western Galilee region.
In the petition, which was also signed by Knesset Member Ilan Ghilon, head of the Meretz faction, the residents claimed that they were forced to enroll their children in Ort Shlomi, a junior high school which they claim belongs to the religious nationalist stream.
According to the Education Ministry, the school includes two streams - state secular and state religious.
In their appeal, the parents said they are being denied their basic right to educate their children according to their world view and are being forced to send their children to a religious school, where they are a minority.
The petitioners said they took legal action after lengthy deliberations with local authorities reached a deadlock.
Council head Na'aman called the petition "provocative," adding that it "reeks of political opportunism at the children's expense."
According to him, the initiative to found a school in Shlomi that "unites the state secular and state religious streams" was supported by the education minister.
Hagai Einav contributed to the report
