The Education Ministry released data on Monday outlining the matriculation achievements of high school graduates for the 2012/13 school year. The ministry categorized the achievements based on a scale or low, medium and high and rated student achievements in municipalities throughout the country. Cities such as Even Yehuda, Kochav Yair, Givatayim, and Givat Shmuel all recorded above 85% eligibility among students for matriculation certificates for 12th graders. Tel Aviv recorded 76.04% eligibility placing it in the 'high' category, while Jerusalem recorded 44.16% eligibility placing it in the 'poor' category. The ministry stressed that despite the categorization, the school year was characterized by a general rise in eligibility rates for the matriculation certificates among all students, whether in low, medium, or high categories. On Sunday the Education Ministry released details of a new pilot plan for maintaining the integrity of the matriculation exams. According to the new program, which will gradually be implemented beginning with the winter 2014/15 matriculation exams, the ministry will divide high schools in Israel into three categories based on the percentage of disqualified booklets from previous exams.
