MONTREAL—An ex-Hasidic Jewish couple who were educated in a private religious school graduated without knowing how to speak French and hardly being able to speak English, a lawyer said Monday at the opening of a trial centring on the Quebec government’s responsibility to regulate religious schools. The couple were in Quebec Superior Court on Monday seeking a judgment against the province, which they accuse of failing to ensure they received an adequate education. According to court documents, the plaintiffs were educated in Yiddish at a religious school that did not hold a permit. “The plaintiffs finished their high school education without knowing about the St. Lawrence River of the theory of evolution,” reads the summary of their claim, originally filed in 2016. Eric Cantin, a lawyer representing the Quebec government, told the court the province “is not playing ostrich” when it comes to the issue of religious schools.

Source: thestar February 10, 2020 23:03 UTC