The Israeli Communications Ministry announced plans to lower the cost of distance learning via telephone for students continuing their school studies at a time when many schools are not holding in-person classes.
The plan involves allowing communications companies and service providers to charge for calls to a predetermined set of numbers at the cost of a penny per minute for calls to landline numbers and just over five for calls to mobile destinations.
The decision comes as a result of lessons learned in the Communications Ministry from the time of the coronavirus pandemic, during which many study hours were held remotely and parents had to pay up to hundreds of shekels more for their children's bills and to juggle between the companies and the different packages.
Not just school calls
Communications Minister Dr. Shlomo Karai said of the arrangement, “In order to allow distance learning also through voice conferences, and to allow the use of lines that were actively used during the war, we decided… an arrangement that will allow both distance learning and calling additional lines for leisure, classes, authorities, and so on, this time is a time of war."
The additional lines will be defined according to the recommendation of the public representatives and in cooperation with United Torah Judaism MK Uri Maklev.
The arrangement is balanced and good so that the charge for minutes that exceed the basic package that each subscriber has will amount to only one penny. Let's hope that we will not need this in the future and that all Israeli students will soon return to school.”