[etni] Education under pressure - Editorial

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Education under pressure
Haaretz Editorial - September 1, 2003

The new school year will not be an easy one for Israel's 1,385,000 students.
Cuts to the Education Ministry budget are manifesting themselves in fewer
teaching hours and a reduction in the number of enrichment programs. In
primary schools, the weekly schedule will be cut by 6 percent compared to
the previous academic year: around 75 minutes less per week for every
student. High school students, on average, will study for two-and -a-half
hours less than they did last year. The principal of one of Tel Aviv's top
high schools began her annual address to students by warning them not to
turn up late for lessons, which she said are worth their weight in gold. The
depleted weekly schedule will primarily harm students on the periphery and
from crisis-hit sectors of society, where parents can ill afford to pay for
supplementary education for their children.

Since Education Minister Limor Livnat took office, some NIS 3 billion has
been cut from her ministry's budget. This makes it difficult to provide an
equal opportunity for quality education to students who come from families
without financial means. The budget cuts immediately widen the gap between
these students and students from financially sound communities. Last summer,
there was a marked drop in the matriculation exam success rate of students
from the unemployment-hit periphery, in towns such as Ofakim, Kiryat Malachi
and Sderot. In contrast, the success rate in affluent towns such as Ramat
Hasharon, Shoham and Maccabim-Re'ut climbed.

(Read the whole article at -
www.etni.org.il/news/underpressure.htm
or
www.etni.org/news/underpressure.htm )


The ETNI Team



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