Moriah College

CHANTAL ABITBOL

A STRING of non-Jewish appointments to head Sydney’s leading Jewish schools has led to suggestions there is a dearth of Jewish educators in Australia ready to seize top posts.

Some school boards have argued their priority is finding the best person for the job, “regardless of religious affiliation”.

This was the case when Sydney’s Emanuel School announced plans last month to replace outgoing principal Dr Bruce Carter, who is not Jewish, with another non-Jewish principal.

Moriah College also opted for the same route when it hired principal/CEO Kim Fillingham last December, despite some parents’ concerns that a non-Jewish head would struggle to push the school’s “modern Jewish ethos”.

All nine Jewish schools in Melbourne are headed by Jewish principals, although a number of them have been brought here from abroad to take up their posts.

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Dalia Sable

THE Federal Government this week pitched in to help Melbourne Jewish schools that have delayed construction plans due to a lack of funds. Six of Melbourne’s Jewish primary schools received more than $13 million for major projects in round two of the Primary Schools for the 21st Century program.

Adass Israel School, Leibler Yavneh College, Mount Scopus Memorial College, Sholem Aleichem Collefge, Yeshivah-Beth Rivkah Colleges and The King David School are among 776 primary schools in Victoria to have been awarded a share of the $1.4 billion package. Read the full story