Ever since its foundation in 1956, Oholei Torah has been a leading school in the Ultra-Orthodox Chabad community in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY, teaching its students strictly religious studies, from the Old Testament, to the Talmud, to the Code of the Jewish Law, to modern Chassidic philosophy. Although in the heart of Brooklyn, 2000 young students sit in filled classrooms with their teachers teaching only in Yiddish, and not a word of English is heard. Not a word of English is taught from preschool through College, nor math, science, history, chemistry, biology, or any other secular subject. The sole goal is to raise students who will one day become rabbis who will marry and move out to any far-fetched corner of the world to serve as a spiritual leader for the Jewish population in said community.
This system fairs very well for those who follow this path. But for those who choose to take another path, they are left with no knowledge of how to do so. Without any knowledge of basic necessity, one cannot land a job, learn a trade, or pursue a further education.
This is just one school of many who follow in the same style, where protecting students from secular education leaves youth in a difficult position of not being able to follow the path they need without spending several years catching up on all the basic life skills and basic education needed to go any further.
For this reason, Forward houses a program twice weekly where students are paired up with tutors free of charge, teaching basic education and preparation for the GED exam. This is used as a platform from which any student can further follow any path desired, whether continuing education, a job, or anything in between.