(VIDEO AND PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)
Israel’s public schools opened for the 5778-5779 school year on Sunday, 22 Elul. In the accompanying video, we receive a message from Minister of Education Naftali Bennet, who is also chairman of the dati leumi Bayit Yehudi party.
“Today, over 2 million students returned to school. 167,000 are entering first grade along with my [son] David. The teachers love them a great deal and are waiting for them. If there are any issues, one should approach the teacher and remain involved.”
In addition, 131,000 students are beginning 12th grade and there are 194,000 members of the system’s teaching staff.
Bennet congratulated students and teachers on what he noted was the smoothest opening of the school year for some time and said, “The excitement is at its peak for the opening of another school year. In addition to vast reforms in mathematics and English, this year we will continue to narrow gaps, deepening understanding over memorization, and to expand principals’ freedom to nurture values. Happily, this year too, there will be no strikes, and we are prepared to receive with open arms 2.3 million students who will arrive at schools on Sunday.”
“The state education system is home to all Israeli students. I am the Education Minister of 2.3 million students of all communities: Jews, Arabs, Druze, Circassians, religious, secular, and chareidi. They are all my children. Every child in the State of Israel deserves an excellent education and fair opportunity. In the face of recent polarization in society, I felt the remedy for this problem was unity and reconciliation through education. Therefore, I decided that the coming school year will be held under the banner of “unity”. We must remember that arguments within the family are fine and healthy, as long as we always remain a family.”
Education Ministry Director-General Shmuel Abuav commented, “We are opening the school year with a series of large and significant announcements. Alongside the largescale national programs around school holidays, as well as math and English programs, we will equip laboratories with innovative equipment, increase the number of participants in youth movements, and lead a series of changes in order to promote the autonomy of the principals who are the leaders in the educational process.”
As part of the annual theme, in their studies the schools will deal with the issue of unity from two main perspectives: the first, unity among all elements of Israeli society and the second, Jewish Peoplehood and the connection with Diaspora Jewry. The Ministry and the schools are working on formulating the specific content, dialogues, and joint meetings between different groups in Israel society.
In addition, key reforms taking place this year include: greater autonomy for principals, extra staff members in around 6,000 kindergartens, smaller class sizes, and expansion in the studies of mathematics, English, and Hebrew language.
In the accompanying photos, we see Bennet and his wife and children heading out for the first day of school.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
What this doesn’t tell is that the Education Ministry has seized control of the curriculum and content of Chareidi education (through inspectors with power to fire teachers and cut off funding to schools) to eliminate as much as possible education to yiras Shamayim and emphasize education to derech ha-teva, e.g. no Rosh Hashannah posters about the six days of creation (too abstract for children), no teaching to answer Amen to brochos, nothing about the 39 malachos of Shabbos (too much for children to absorb). For Rosh Hashannah they’re taught that the head has two eyes, two ears, a mouth, etc. For the four cups of Pesach they’re taught about winemaking, nothing about the four expressions of redemption.