Gov't to pay for soldiers' first year of higher education

Monetary assistance package totaling NIS 25 million to be coupled with NIS 80 million investment in higher education in the periphery.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
IDF Soldiers 311 (R) (photo credit: REUTERS)
IDF Soldiers 311 (R)
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The government authorized on Sunday a bill to provide monetary assistance packages to help demobilized soldiers and those who completed national service to pursue higher education.
The package is intended to completely cover the cost of the first year of studies, and will total NIS 9,300 per recipient.
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This investment of NIS 25 million will be coupled with a NIS 80 million investment toward higher education in the periphery.  
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that this decision came as part of a revolution his government is mobilizing in the country's education system.
"This is a giant reform, the results of which can already be seen to be having an effect on students' achievements and the higher education system," the prime minister said.
Deputy minister Gila Gamliel, a strong advocate of the move said, "this plan will lead to a positive revolution in Israeli higher education, and will significantly reduce Israel's socioeconomic gap by making higher education more accessible."
The announcement came as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told his cabinet at their weekly meeting that the last two weeks, in which the government was working to secure the release of Schalit, were "out of the ordinary," and now it was time to "continue to work hard on the many challenges facing us and get back to routine."