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Newsnight Scotland

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Page last updated at 11:25 GMT, Tuesday, 27 October 2009

Having faith in education

Is being a Jew a matter of bloodline or religious practice? Should parents have to "prove" an adequate level of religious observance to get their children into a Jewish school, or should it be decided by matrilineal descent?

The Court of Appeal ruled in July that because Jews are also defined as an ethnic group under the Race Relation Act, denying a child admission solely on the basis that their mother is not Jewish would count as unlawful discrimination.

The case has deeply divided Britain's Jewish community, and the government believes it may have wide ramifications for other faith schools, as Tim Whewell explains.

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