Tackling an existential danger — Israel’s neglected education system
-
Loading... - Minna Virtanen
- 17 Mar 2023
- 69 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
With the children of the fastest-growing population groups receiving a third-world education, a first-world economy will be unsustainable, a first-class army impossible
Since no country can – or wants – to produce everything it needs by itself, all developed countries have to compete with one another in the global marketplace. This competition will only increase in the future, and the graph below reflects how each of the developed countries is preparing its children for that modern labor market.
Even excluding Haredi children – most of whom do not study the required material and do not take the international exams – the achievements of Israeli children in the core subjects are below those of all developed countries. The average knowledge of pupils in the state-religious system in mathematics, science and reading places them below 80% of the developed countries.
Below the non-religious and religious Jewish schools are the country’s Arabic-speaking schools. Their pupils rank below many developing countries. In fact, Israel’s Arabic-speaking pupils score below nine of the 10 predominantly Muslim countries that participated in the last PISA exam — the OECD’s assessment program. This lack of fundamental knowledge will significantly limit their future economic opportunities.
In addition to the Haredi and Arab children (each of these groups alone accounts for over a fifth of the country’s first-grade pupils), there are many children living in Israel’s geographic and social peripheries receiving a third-world education in the basic fields of study. Read More…
