Israel’s public school system opened today, Tuesday, September 1, 2015 for the 5776 school year. Ministry of Education officials report 2,194,931 students headed for their classrooms around the country on Tuesday morning.

The students joined over 160,000 teachers and school personnel to begin the year. 157,477 headed to first grade to begin their school careers and 118,721 twelfth graders began their last year of high school.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett congratulated students, telling them they are all in good hands as he had words of praise for the system’s teachers. The minister also spoke of his education reforms, which include smaller classrooms.

Ministry Director-General Michal Cohen announced the new school year opened without any major issues and that all the major problems that faced the system during the last three months were resolved.

In Kfar Yona, the parents of 17 children attending a Chabad kindergarten refused to send their children because the classes include a number of children from Israel’s Ethiopian community. Mrs. Michal Cohen announced this discrimination is unacceptable to her and the system would not tolerate it.

Christian schools around Israel did not open. They observed a strike in protest of their lack of a budget in addition to blaming the ministry for placing a ceiling on the amount of tuition they receive from parents. The Raama Local Council is striking in solidarity with the Christian schools.

A number of other schools are closed including in Kochav Yair, Tel Monde, Taibeh and The Haifa district. Some are closed due to safety issues in the schools. A kindergarten in Har Adar, which is part of the Jerusalem District, only opened at 10:00 AM as parents protested what they perceive to be safety issues in the building. And finally, the Etrog kindergarten in Ramat HaSharon remained closed as parents are striking because they feel the building is not suitable.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem / Photos: Spokesman of N. District of Fire Department, Education Ministry)