The Jerusalem Municipality's Appropriations Committee
approved a request by the Department for Chareidi Education
for increased advances on criteria allotments for 2006 for
talmudei Torah in Jerusalem, based on the Mayor's
instructions to increase funding for talmudei Torah by
30 percent in the current budget year.
The amount of the transfer is 47 percent of the total
allocations for the budget year. Criteria-based funding for
students below the mandatory schooling age came to NIS
300,000 ($70,000) and NIS 20 million ($4.5 million) in
special funds was approved for temporary structures,
renovation work and safety improvements at educational
institutions.
The advances are granted annually based on enrollment. The
full amount of the allocations is generally transferred at
the end of the year. So far the Municipal Appropriations
Committee has approved 47 percent of the allocations.
The budget transfers were approved in accordance with
discussions Mayor Rabbi Uri Lupoliansky held at the beginning
of the budget year with Rabbi Uri Maklev, deputy mayor and
commissioner of chareidi education, and department heads and
managers. In these talks the Mayor issued instructions to
increase the allocations for talmudei Torah by 30
percent, in addition to sums granted during the past two
years as part of efforts to reduce gaps in budget cuts
created through these allotments and the deterioration of the
criteria on which they are based.
Rabbi Maklev said that following the Mayor's directives
numerous discussions have been held in recent months at the
Department for Chareidi Education in order to increase the
budget by 30 percent. Meanwhile a comprehensive plan was
prepared for renovations and immediate remedies for safety
hazards at kindergartens and educational institutions.
