[etni] Close the language gap

Close the language gap
The Jerusalem Post - May 28, 2008
One of the major issues discussed at Shimon Peres's recent Presidential Conference on the future of Israel was this country's need to be competitive in an increasingly global economy. As the event clearly showed, knowledge of English is a vital element in such competition. Indeed, the Presidential Conference was conducted more in English than in Hebrew - the major plenary session speakers and the majority of panel speakers addressed their audiences in English. Announcements were made in English before being repeated in Hebrew, and at times it was easy to forget that the event was taking place in Jerusalem and not Manhattan or London.
WHY, THEN, are Israel's leaders allowing English education in Israeli schools to suffer, and what can be done about it?
Last week's Comptroller's Report cited significant gaps in English education between different sectors of society. In particular, students in state secular schools scored higher than those in state religious schools.
Even within the secular school system, however, English education faces major obstacles. As a volunteer English teacher in schools and after-school programs in Haifa with the OTZMA post-graduate volunteer program, I saw firsthand the shortcomings in the Israeli approach to English education. 

(To read the whole article, go to -
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1211872839028&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull ) 



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