[etni] fw: Serious Education Crisis
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- Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 22:56:55 -0700
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Serious education crisis
Haaretz
August 19, 2004
"Overall, we are very satisfied," said Education Minister Limor Livnat
on Tuesday when she presented the results of the nationwide educational
assessment examinations (known in Hebrew as Metzav). It's hard to
understand the basis for her satisfaction.
It is true that compared to the previous year there was a very slight
improvement in achievement in most areas. But at the same time, there
was a decline in eighth graders' English scores, in both Jewish and
non-Jewish schools - and the scores themselves remained very low. The
average grade in math was 60 out of 100 for Jewish fifth graders, and
44 for non-Jewish eighth graders.
Additionally, the gap between well-off and poor schools in the Jewish
community remained high. In well-off schools, fifth and eighth graders
achieved an average score of 74, compared to the less well-off schools'
66 for fifth graders and 56 for eighth graders.
In the Arab community there was an improvement compared to the previous
year, but scores were still very low. Neither was violence eliminated
in the schools. Twenty percent of students in elementary schools said
they were afraid to come to school because of violence, and 40 percent
said teachers insult and hurt them.
It has been known for years that there is a serious crisis in Israeli
education. International comparisons have shown a significant decline
in the achievement levels of Israeli students. The Dovrat Committee,
which conducted a lengthy study of the problem, found that not only are
students' achievements low, they are steadily declining in every field -
languages, math and science - and in every age group studied. The
committee also found huge gaps between students at different social
economic levels.
The Dovrat Committee said the problem is not budgets - Israel's spending
per student is on a par with the average in OECD countries, adjusted for
purchasing power. The problem is that too large a part of this money is
wasted on bureaucrats and bureaucracy, not being spent up front on
classroom hours or on improving the status and salaries of good
teachers.
Israel's education system is very centralized - the Education Ministry
sets policy, supervises its execution and controls the schools, the
teachers and the budgets.
There have been no attempts to streamline the system and cut its
abundant layers of fat, because that would involve firing whole ranks
of government and municipal bureaucrats and educators. When the ax of
budget cuts is brandished, the ministry cuts classroom hours - once
again striking at the heart of education.
Teachers' unions have played a major part in creating this crisis. They
will not allow a teacher to be fired even if everyone agrees he or she
is not doing the job properly. It is therefore a mistake to think they
will enable the reforms proposed by the Dovrat Committee, which would
greatly reduce their power.
Therefore, Livnat's claim that the Dovrat Committee will solve all the
problems and turn Israeli students into high achievers is still no more
than a forlorn hope. The education minister, who has been in this post
for three and a half years, is responsible for improving the education
system and raising the achievement level - without any relation to the
committee.
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