Some Jewish school principals in Britain spend more time dealing with security than with education, the BBC reported on Tuesday, based on an upcoming review on educational antisemitism.
The government-commissioned independent review is led by David Bell, who previously served as permanent secretary at the Department for Education from 2006 to 2011 and chief inspector of schools in England between 2002 and 2005.
The final version of the review is due to be released in autumn, and the BBC reported that it will likely include training programs for teachers, standardization in reporting incidents of antisemitism, and education about antisemitism for students.
Bell told the BBC that Jewish students in the UK were "facing a pressure - and indeed one might say even a crisis - that is not the experience of other communities in this country."
"When you think about antisemitism, you assume that it's going to be directed towards adults," he said. "What's been quite shocking is the extent to which antisemitism is encountered by children and young people."
Jewish student told he should be in gas chamber
One of the teenagers who gave evidence for the review spoke about the antisemitic harassment he had faced in school.
"People were telling me that I should be in a gas chamber. Swastikas were drawn in lots of classrooms and Nazi salutes became quite widespread," he explained. "Obviously for someone whose family suffered in the Holocaust it was incredibly difficult to have to deal with comments like that."
However, the teenager also said that a single class about modern antisemitism had helped significantly.
"Attitudes changed immediately, and people did apologize to me. I experienced a lot less antisemitism. If it works in my school, there's no reason that it can't work in every school across the country."
Security against antisemitic attack is 'overwhelming priority,' school principal says
Several school principals spoke to the BBC anonymously, confirming the extent to which Jewish students and faculty struggle with the threat of antisemitic attacks.
"In recent years [security] has become an overwhelming priority and increased a significant amount," one stated. "There have been weeks where approximately 90% of my time has been spent on security-related matters.
"Security concerns can become one of the many things that headteachers carry with them beyond the school day and, quite literally, can be among the things that keep me awake at night."
Another said that the required emphasis on security issues prevented him from "working on educational priorities and on improving our school - instead my focus and time has been spent on security, something that should be a given for every child in this country."
"Antisemitism has no place in our society, let alone our education system," Education Secretary Lucy Powell stated to the BBC. "Jewish children and staff should never face hatred or prejudice, and every school and college must be equipped to tackle it when it happens."