It appears that Minister of Education (Likud) Gideon Saar is changing his priorities and his is launching an unyielding campaign against violence in Israel’s public schools, which has been on the rise in recent years.

Saar has spoken of his multi-year education plan, but is pushing this aside along with other matters, moving in the direction of ending school violence. Since appointed to the post, he has spoken of “returning values” to the nation’s primary education system, announcing he will reinstate Jewish values in the education curriculum and towards achieving this noble goal, he plans to take on the current harsh realities of rising school violence.

One announced change is that students involved in violent incident may be immediately expelled, without the traditional hearing to probe the incident. He rejects critics from liberals who warn he is compromising the rights of students. He adds that “problematic schools” will be the first to be targeted, and they will receive special attention. The minister is calling on the powers that be, including teachers, to file reports and permit the system to operate. He stressed the flow of information is critical to meeting the problem head on.

The ‘red schools’ will be first to be addressed, and the minister is putting his money where his mouth is, allocating some NIS 9 million for counselors and professionals who will address the violence in the nation’s most problematic schools. The minister hopes to also grant principals additional authority to act, looking to bring the system back to days of old during which principals and other officials were indeed permitted to take action to address problematic situations that in today’s liberal society may no longer be acceptable in public schools.

The minister is not only looking at the classroom, but intends to address the violence occurring during breaks, in a school yard or elsewhere. One of the ideas being considered is the placement of volunteers from youth organizations as observers in school yards and elsewhere. Saar stresses a watchful eye will be found everywhere – explaining the importance of total supervision in and out of the classroom.

Opponents fear that singling out trouble makers will result in their dropping out and leaving the system, but Saar is not deterred, insisting the violence must be addressed, head-in, and doing so will benefit all involved, including those who are expelled. He insists that dialogue will play a major role in his plan and hopes to turnaround the nation’s public schools system, which over recent years, has become an ever-increasing platform for various forms of violence against students.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)