1,000 fifth grade girls from chareidi mosdos in Beit Shemesh began swimming instruction last week. City Hall is heavily subsidizing the program, paying 75% of the cost per child.

Deputy Mayor Rabbi Shmuel Greenberg, who is in charge of chareidi education in Beit Shemesh, is running the program for a third consecutive year. He points out this year’s program is improved.

The program was developed to meet Ministry of Education guidelines for the fifth grade girls, who are given the swimming instruction during the course of their school year in the city’s public schools. Greenberg explains the chareidi system does not receive any funding from the Education Ministry and the program ongoing in the city today is funded entirely by Beit Shemesh City Hall.

Parents in Beit Shemesh are only required to pay 290 NIS for the ten-lesson program.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)