Slippery Slope

The Ministry of Education has filed indictments against five couples, who are accused of violating the compulsory education law, because they chose to send their children to an Arab-Jewish Waldorf school which did not receive proper accreditation. It should be noted that the prosecution of parents whose children attend a school unrecognized by the Education Ministry is a fairly common occurrence. (Haaretz)

(Hebrew – Haaretz)

The Education Ministry has neglected to translate the material for its new civics curriculum into Arabic, Israel’s second official language, even though all schools have been required to teach it since the start of the current school year and students will be tested on it in the matriculation exam given this summer.

Herzliya’s David Raziel Youth Village suffers from neglect and lax governmental oversight. Students complain about lack of warm water for showers in winter, mold in their rooms, and food that is past the expiration date. The Ministry of Education claims the private operator of the school is responsible for the neglect. (Haaretz)

(Hebrew – Haaretz)

In a workbook on “Israeli tradition and culture” published by the Ministry of Education were included, alongside quotes from the bible, statements by Palmach commander Yigal Alon, and writer Alex Livan, also a quote from Minister of Education Gideon Saar (Halikud Beitenu). Following the quotations pupils were asked questions about Saar’s position.

(Hebrew)

Tel-Aviv-Yaffo municipality summoned a local high school prinicipal to a hearing pending  dismissal, at the request of the Ministry of Education.  Ram Cohen, principal of the city’s Aleph High School of the Arts, published a political opinion piece in Haaretz. (Haaretz)

(Hebrew – Haaretz)

Minister of Education, Gideon Sa’ar (Likud), said last week that the achievements of Israeli pupils in an international test in mathematics “reflect a transformation”, even though the ministry knew that a comparison between the results of the latest test and the previous ones is not possible.  At the bottom of pg 422 of the TIMSS 2011 report there is a note stating that “data [are] not comparable for measuring trends to 2011, primarily due to countries improving translations or increasing population coverage.” (Haaretz)

(Hebrew – Haaretz)

Hundreds of files bearing the personal information of students from all over the country were left out in the corridors of the Education Ministry in Jerusalem where they were exposed to the many visitors to the Ministry. (Haaretz)

(Hebrew – Haaretz)

Many science teachers claim that in supplementary training sessions they are instructed not to teach evolution in their classes out of consideration for the religious sector.

(Hebrew – nrg)

According to a plan by Minister of Education Gideon Sa’ar one of the items affecting school budgets and teacher bonuses will be the percentage of students who perform military or civilian national service. (Haaretz)

(Hebrew – Haaretz)

MK Nissim Ze’ev (Shas), a member of the Knesset’s Education Committee, says that a project promoted by the Ministry of Education to introduce kindergardeners to Islam and Christianity will lead to a loss of identity for the Jewish Children.

(Hebrew – HaKol HaYehudi)