The Education Ministry will open a situation room on Sunday night in preparation
for the opening of the 2012-2013 school year on Monday.
The situation
room is meant to ensure that the year opens smoothly and give immediate answers
to questions on the new school year. In addition, each region will have its own
situation room, which will be in touch with the ministry in Jerusalem for
advice, updates and instructions via video calls.
The situation room will
be open on Sunday from 6-10 p.m., and will reopen Monday from 6:30-10 a.m.
Teachers, parents and students with questions can call 1-212-234-567.
In
addition, staff will update the Education Ministry’s Facebook page throughout
Sunday and answer questions posted online.
There will be 1,564,742
students enrolled in schools this year, a 1.36 percent decrease from last year,
in 61,890 classes, a 1.73% increase, an average of 25 children per
class.
The Education Ministry expects there to be 394,012 preschoolers, a
2.8% increase, and 145,857 first-graders in the upcoming school year, 0.47% more
than 2011-2012. This year, 374,103 students will enter high school, 0.54% more
than last year.
State secular Hebrew-language Education Ministry schools
are expected to have 671,748 students, as opposed to 210,368 in state religious
schools, 229,926 in independent but recognized schools, which are mostly haredi,
and 49,113 in Talmud Torah schools. The Education Ministry expects 417,214
students to enroll in non-Jewish schools.
This year, the government will
implement free education for children aged three and four. There are 317,000
children in the relevant age group, 100,000 of whom were previously eligible for
free early childhood education because of low socioeconomic
status.
Another 142,000 attended public preschools, but their parents
were required to pay NIS 800 before this year. 860 preschools opened ahead of
the new school year, and 910 early education teachers will be newly
employed.
An additional 75,000 either attend private preschools or no
school. The Education Ministry expects 500 private preschools to open this
year.
Ahead of the new school year, Knesset Education Committee
chairwoman Einat Wilf (Independence) is encouraging teachers to present new,
interesting educational initiatives.
The committee has held five two-hour
meetings since June, in which teachers and principals discussed their
pedagogical ideas, and Wilf invites others to contact her and participate in
future meetings.
“The education system can only succeed, excel and build
itself by listening to teachers and their attempts to solve problems,” Wilf
explained. The committee chairwoman said the meetings allow teachers to share
their professional experiences, giving other educators new tools.
One
such idea was presented by Roni Hazon Weiss, a Jerusalem teacher, who described
a parliament she formed in her school, in which students vote on decisions that
influence their lives as students.
Another teacher, Dr. Suhir Rehani
Basharat of the Galil School in Nazareth, presented a project encouraging high
school students to be more socially involved.