According to forecasts by the Central Bureau for Statistics
in 2012 -- less than five years -- almost one in three
students will be enrolled in chareidi schools.
An investigative report in Ha'aretz also revealed that
while the number of students in the overall system is
expected to rise in the upcoming 5768 school year, the number
of classrooms will decrease, meaning more crowded classrooms.
A total of 1.8 million children and teenagers will be
enrolled in the school system -- a 1 percent increase over
last year. But despite the addition of approximately 10,000
students, there will be 240 fewer classrooms.
Ranking Education Ministry officials claim that funding for
the construction of 90 new classrooms in the North as part of
a rehabilitation program following last summer's war in
Lebanon has not yet been received. The Prime Minister's
Office said in reply that the Education Ministry is
responsible for the funding.
According to Education Ministry figures, 828,732 elementary
school students will be enrolled in the coming year, 259,139
middle-school students and 357,685 high-school students. The
latter two categories show a rise of 1-2 percent.
Of all Jewish students 60.5 percent study in government
schools, 18.5 percent in government-religious schools and 21
percent in chareidi schools.
The total number of educational institutions comes to 3,919,
with 122,656 workers on the respective instruction staffs.
