An isolationist ultra-Orthodox group that avoids any contact with state institutions will open its first official school in Beit Shemesh this September, Israel Hayom has learned.
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Until now, the Kanaim community's 5,000 children have studied in private institutions that were not registered with the Education Ministry. The women are known to give birth at private facilities so as not to register their children with the state.
But according to Beit Shemesh mayor Aliza Bloch, Kanaim families who have special needs children struggle to educate them in the existing institutions, which is why she reached out to education officials to create a school just for them.
After two years of construction, the school includes four classrooms designed for special needs students, who will also be able to receive medical treatments on site and who will be taught by specially trained teachers. The school sets a precedent for the Kanaim community, whose children have never before studied at a state-run school. To protect the students, the location and name of the institution is not revealed.
"When we were asked by such an isolationist community to take responsibility for the future of the children, we could not stand by," Bloch said. "We will do everything to provide all the services that are required and if needed, even expand the school."
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