In a new development, the Ministry of Education in Israel has announced that Charedi students in seminaries can now achieve the same status as having taken their Israeli matriculation exams if they pass the Szold tests taken at the end of a teaching course. The women who attend these seminaries would then be qualified to pursue academic careers in the same way anyone with a full matriculation could in Israel, without having to apply to pre-academic academies. The classification would be given to women who achieve “Senior Teaching Certificates” under the Szold curriculum.

The Director of the Ministry of Education, Shmuel Abuav sent a letter to the Council of the Heads of the Academic Institutions” illustrating the Ministry’s new position on the matter.

The Senior or Accredited Teaching Certificates, which almost every Charedi girl attains when they leave seminary, will now be equal to a matriculation certificate in all things. This situation allows Charedi women to pursue academic careers much more easily than before.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)