New incentives announced for high-level math matriculation exam

The initiative also seeks to increase the bonus gap between students taking a five-unit matriculation exam and the four-unit exam.

By LIDAR GRAVÉ-LAZI
Naftali Bennett (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Naftali Bennett
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
High school students who have completed five units – the highest level – of mathematics studies will be awarded an advantage when applying for university, the Education Ministry announced on Sunday.
The initiative, led by Education Minister Naftali Bennett, aims to encourage students to pursue higher levels of study in the field of mathematics.
As part of the plan, students taking the matriculation exam in five units of mathematics will receive an extra bonus of 35 points in calculating their overall score, instead of the 25 points given to date.
For example, if a student receives a score of 70 on their matriculation exam, their final grade will be calculated by the universities as 105.
The initiative also seeks to increase the bonus gap between students taking a five-unit matriculation exam and the four-unit exam, so that students taking the latter will only receive a 12.5-point bonus.
All the leading universities – Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Tel Aviv University, Bar-Ilan University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ariel University, the University of Haifa and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology – will take part in offering the incentive.
“Everybody has enlisted for the mathematics reform,” Bennett said on Sunday.
“I was happy to discover that, within a short time, all Israeli universities adopted my request... This is an unprecedented mobilization for Israel’s students and for strengthening the study of mathematics,” he said, calling on students to “make the effort” to study mathematics at a higher level.
“I urge students who are debating between four and five units [to] make the effort.
We will continue to strengthen the system of incentives to all sides: students, teachers, administrators and parents,” he said.