One of Britain’s leading exam boards became engulfed in accusations of anti-Semitism, over a national exam paper which asked pupils to ‘justify’ prejudices against Jews.
The AQA board had set the question, as part of a religious studies GCSE examination for 16-year-old British pupils, which asked pupils to “explain, briefly, why some people are prejudiced against Jews”.
Leading public outcry of the board’s reasoning for including the question in an exam distributed to leading Jewish schools such as Jewish Free School (JFS), was (cross-communal Jewish representative body) Board of Deputies chief executive Jon Benjamin, who described it as “unacceptable” and “nothing to do with Jews or Judaism”.
“We will be taking it up with the examination board and it seems to me that it is also something to raise with the Department of Education, with which we are meeting to discuss anti-Semitism in schools”, he added.
In a separate statement, Education Secretary Michael Gove joined critics of exam board in saying: “To suggest that anti-Semitism can ever be explained, rather than condemned is insensitive and, frankly, bizarre.”
Mr Gove continued to say that it was “the duty of politicians to fight prejudice, and with anti-Semitism on the rise we need to be especially vigilant”.
A spokesman for the AQA board expressed “concern” the question had offended the Jewish community and insisted that whilst it was designed to “acknowledge that some people hold prejudices; it does not imply in any way that prejudice is justified”.
The spokesman added that the question, which formed part of a paper focusing on Judaism, required students to use “the Holocaust to illustrate prejudice based on irrational fear, ignorance and scapegoating”.
Exam regulator Ofqual confirmed it had contacted AQA for comment on the controversial test, adding: “We will take appropriate follow-up action if necessary.”

by: Shari Ryness

EJP