A virtual school will be opened starting in the coming school year, the Education Ministry announced on Sunday. It will serve 180,000 male and female students from all over the country, starting from the 7th grade to the 12th grade.
The virtual program will be available for free and is meant to give students the opportunity to receive complementary and personalized lessons, according to their needs.
"I am excited and proud to announce the opening of the virtual school of the Education Ministry. This is great news for parents and students all over the country, the school will provide complimentary educational services at no cost that will allow each and every student to receive assistance in all subjects, from anywhere and at any time," said Education Minister Yoav Kisch.
The new program was initiated after preliminary experiments proved successful, and in light of a global trend towards personalization of learning, as well as increasing integration of virtual learning alongside physical learning in the classroom.
Virtual learning for all school children
The virtual school will teach in both Hebrew and Arabic and will be staffed by teachers who are experts in their respective fields, including mathematics, English and physics.
The use of an advanced technological learning environment will allow students to develop learning skills and will allow teachers to continuously monitor the rate of progress of each of the students.
"I believe that this move will ease the many expenses faced by the parents, but more importantly, it will give every student, regardless of their parents' financial capabilities, an equal opportunity to succeed in whatever profession they choose. Strengthening the struggling and empowering the outstanding, this is another step on the way to creating an excellent and contemporary education system," Kisch added.
The virtual program will also include a track for excellence in scientific and technological fields, which will start in middle school and will help students to advance in those subjects with the aim of giving them an equal opportunity to study advanced engineering majors in university.
"The virtual school will catapult the education system forward because it allows us to make advanced and equal education services available to all students, with an emphasis on students from the periphery and from Arab society," said Assaf Tsalel, Director General of the Education Ministry.
"In this way, the education system will reduce the social gaps and allow an equal opportunity for every student."