According to Education Ministry figures, the total nationwide
enrollment for the 5766 school year increased by 36,079, to
1,757,967 students in 4,413 schools and some 13,000
kindergarten classes. Of these 1,312,536 attend Jewish
schools, 318,862 attend Arab schools and 126,560 attend
Bedouin and Druse schools.
At a press conference, the Education Ministry stated three
primary goals for this year: meeting the needs of students
evacuated from Gush Katif, stemming violence and implementing
the reforms contained in the Dovrat Report.
So far at least 913 of the 3,437 students from Gush Katif and
Northern Samaria have been placed in schools.
To combat violence, the Education Ministry has decided to
adopt a uniform dress code, introduce a courteous way for
students to address teachers and institute codes of conduct
and proper speech. At the press conference, Education
Ministry Director General R. Tirosh presented a set of
regulations from 1914 designed to improve student behavior
and manners. "The regulations were issued following a laxity
in etiquette and behavior among students. Unfortunately the
excess liberalism in today's education led to laxity not just
in schools but in parental authority as well," she said.
The Education Ministry also plans to raise the acceptance
criteria for teacher-training programs at colleges and
seminaries in order to elevate teaching standards at
schools.
102,927 Students Enrolled in Jerusalem's Chareidi
Education System
The chareidi education system now accounts for 48.5 percent
of Jerusalem's children with 102,927 students enrolled. At a
press conference held by Mayor Rabbi Uri Lupoliansky and top
officials from the Department for Chareidi Education, the
mayor praised city officials for making the necessary
arrangements for the opening of the school year, with a
minimum of glitches.
For years, the city has divided education in Jerusalem into
three sectors—general education, chareidi education and
Arab education—whereas at this week's press conference
the municipality's deputy director general described the
city's education system in terms of four categories: general,
government-religious, chareidi and Arab. Previously,
government-religious was included under "general" in an
effort to make the city seem more secular. The city's
enrollment figures for the 5766 school year show 85,427
students at official chareidi schools in addition to 17,500
at private chareidi schools.
Government schools account for 17 percent of Jerusalem
students (36,000), government-religious schools account for
12.3 percent (26,000) and Arab schools account for 22.2
percent (47,071).
Chareidi institutions took in 2,095 new students in the 5766
school year, an increase of 2.5 percent compared to last
year. These figures are in addition to the impressive 18
percent growth in chareidi enrollment between 5760 and 5765.
In government and government-religious schools, enrollment
dropped slightly this year.
Jerusalem's Department for Chareidi Education is operating 19
new kindergartens in addition to the 264 existing
kindergartens, and five new first-grade classes in addition
to the 69 existing classes. Kindergarten classes have an
average of 25 students and the overall average class size is
28 students.
Funding has been allocated for the construction of 20 prefab
classrooms (caravans) in addition to the construction of 12
new classrooms at the Ohel Rachel School. The renovation
costs at municipal schools and kindergartens totaled NIS 15
million. Criteria are also being prepared for funding
allocations for non-municipal schools during the year
2006.
"The results in the field speak for themselves," said the
mayor following a tour of the city's educational institutions
with the heads of the Department for Chareidi Education.
"Be'ezras Hashem, it is apparent to what an extent the
principals—and to a no lesser degree the municipality
staff headed by Deputy Mayor of Education Rabbi Uri Maklev,
together with the director general of the municipality, Eitan
Meir, the deputy director general Y. Shalvi, the director of
the Department for Chareidi Education, Rabbi Binyomin Cohen,
and the entire department staff, including Rabbi Dov Fuchs,
Rabbi Gershon Binet and others—did outstanding work day
and night to allow the school year to open without glitches,
despite the shameful lack of classrooms. The Education
Ministry cannot seem to grasp the rate of growth and
development of the city's chareidi education system."
Despite a number of small problems that will soon be solved,
all was in place for the opening of the school year at
kindergartens, daycare centers, talmudei Torah,
schools and seminaries, the mayor noted.
Rabbi Lupoliansky said he has issued instructions to launch a
series of new projects this year in order to minimize the
number of dropouts at the city's chareidi institutions. For
instance, the Department for Chareidi Education is operating
a study program for educators and instructors, consisting of
advanced coursework and workshops to teach veteran staff
members how to identify and cope with learning impairments.
The training program will end with assessment tests of the
participants' ability to provide individual assistance to
students suffering from learning disabilities or behavioral
disorders.
Numerous programs for the prevention of and coping with
dropouts will be held among the students themselves this
year. The Department will provide support to help students
suffering from learning impairments as well as emotional and
personal problems. Three hundred counselors will work with
hundreds of students, age 6 to 16, with the goal of keeping
98 percent of students in their current place of study and
having 95 percent of graduating 8th graders enroll at
yeshivas.
The City is also operating a program called Tigbur aimed at
helping girls enrolled in regular primary schools. Struggling
students will receive individual tutoring with experienced
teachers, toward the goal of ensuring that 80 percent of
girls in the chareidi education system meet minimum
achievement standards (grades of at least 70 percent in math,
Hebrew and English).
A similar program for boys, called Yehoyada, will provide
therapeutic enrichment for boys in first through fifth grade
suffering from learning impairments, emotional difficulties
and learning disabilities. Older students suffering from
similar problems will be prepared for yeshiva life through a
project called Merkaz Lemida-Hachana Leyeshiva.
In addition to these projects, the Department for Chareidi
Education, in cooperation with Lev L'Achim, will open a
telephone hotline for students who have dropped out of
chareidi educational institutions. The hotline will direct
and guide them back to the learning bench and will track
their absorption at various institutions. The project is
designed to help handle 3,500 cases per year and to place 70
percent of callers in integrative educational
institutions.
Deputy Mayor of Education Rabbi Uri Maklev noted the
extensive renovations of educational facilities, projects to
prevent dropouts, and special eyesight, dental and other
health improvement projects.
He said that in the past outside figures did not try to
interfere with the chareidi education system, but today the
city must fight legal battles against opponents trying to
prevent the city from providing social benefits to the
chareidi public and students at chareidi institutions.
"People think that when there's a chareidi mayor everything
works out by itself," said Rabbi Maklev. "But opposition
figures wage battles and prevent the implementation of
educational and municipal activities. The municipality,
headed by Rabbi Uri Lupoliansky, is battling to defend
against these schemes. But be'ezras Hashem we will
succeed in overcoming them.
"The fact is that the chareidi educational system grew 2.5
percent this year, be'ezras Hashem, an increase of
more than two thousand children. Special education also
increased and structures are being converted into educational
facilities, such as industrial buildings that have been
transformed into schools. All of these things were the result
of teamwork in the Department for Chareidi Education together
with personnel from various municipal departments in
cooperation with all of the municipal officials and the
chareidi representatives on the city council."
Deputy Mayor of Finance Rabbi Eli Simchayof also spoke of the
scheming against programs sponsored by chareidi city
councilmen. "Over the years we managed to increase the
education budgets to substantial amounts," he said. "Although
they are insufficient, we entered a recovery program. This
year, the mayor gave orders not to touch the education budget
and I hope in the coming weeks there will be another increase
to close the gaps. I want to stress that we are constantly
embroiled in difficult battles against the city legal
advisor, who prevents us from transferring funds or executing
renovation work at non-municipal institutions. I hope we
arrive at a reasonable solution in order to renovate and fund
non-municipal institutions (private chadorim) as
well."
Y. Shalvi, the deputy director of the municipality, said that
because of the demographic changes in the city and the rapid
growth in chareidi education, the City of Jerusalem has begun
to prepare a long-term plan to solve future problems in
chareidi education.
54,600 Students in Bnei Brak Schools
Bnei Brak also posted an increase in enrollment, which rose
from 53,800 students last year to 54,600 students beginning
the 5766 school year.
Twenty-six thousand students are enrolled in the city's 86
primary schools—14,000 in 27 Chinuch Atzmai and Maayan
Hachinuch schools, 11,000 in 46 public and private
talmudei Torah, 900 in four government-religious
schools and 360 in the city's one government primary
school.
At the upper level, the student population numbers 8,000
students in yeshivos ketanos, 6,000 students in
chareidi high schools and seminaries, 1,500 students in four
government-religious schools and 500 students in the city's
one general government high school.
Of the city's 4,814 kindergarteners, 4,332 are enrolled in
chareidi kindergartens (up by 250), 402 in government-
religious kindergartens and 80 in government
kindergartens.
75 New Classes Opened in Elad
Elad opened 75 new classes, bringing this year's total
enrollment up to 8,800 students in 314 classes at all levels.
Hundreds of additional students are enrolled in educational
institutions outside the city. Mayor Rabbi Tzvi Herbst and
his staff and the City Council's Education Department spent
months preparing the infrastructure to meet the needs of the
burgeoning population.
Enrollment Up 15 Percent in Modi'in Illit
"Each of the 13,200 students has a decent roof overhead,
suitable for study purposes," said Modi'in Illit Council Head
Rabbi Yaakov Guterman following a tour of the city on the
opening day of school year. Official figures show enrollment
increased by 1,700 students this year.
Forty-two of the city's 90 new classrooms are located in
permanent buildings at two new schools, including the
fabulous Avi Ezri-Beis Yaakov School in the southern section
of the city.
Modi'in Illit's children study in a total of over 500 classes
in 38 schools.
