The Ministry of Education, under the current Minister Shai Piron of Yesh Atid, is working to found a new network of State schools that will be called the State Chareidi School Network. Their most advanced effort in this direction is a new Talmud Torah called Beis Rabban in the Neve Yaakov neighborhood of Jerusalem that will be entirely under the control of the Ministry of Education, in contrast to the practice up until now where chareidi schools maintain educational independence, as gedolei Yisroel always demanded.
In recent weeks senior staffers of the Ministry of Education met quietly with the menahalim of chareidi educational institutions in several areas, particularly institutions that are known to be struggling financially. The Ministry has offered substantial material enticements to get them to agree to transfer their institutions into the new State Chareidi School System.
Gedolei Yisroel have always insisted that all chareidi educational institutions be under the educational control of Torah leaders alone. Raising the new generations to be good Torah Jews is a sacred task that can be entrusted only to gedolei Yisroel and their agents. It is clear to all that the Ministry of Education will have full control of the educational content of systems in its network.
Although at first spokesmen for the Ministry of Education claimed that the schools of the State Chareidi System would have autonomy, a copy of the contract that will have to be signed by any institution joining the system was shown to this correspondent, and it is clear that the Ministry will have full and absolute control: all staff will be employees of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry must approve all hires and the Ministry will even have the final word on admissions and the curriculum. All the teachers and rabbeim will become full employees of the Ministry of Education and they must comply with all the standards and rules of the Ministry. In particular this means that they will be required to get university degrees.
Rabbonim were very disappointed and upset that one institution succumbed to the blandishments of the Ministry of Education, and warned that it does not provide a model for proper education of our future generations.
