ByALAN ROSENBAUM
Leading educators, business leaders, and elected officials gathered at a virtual conference Wednesday to discuss issues that concern today’s youth and influence their lives. The conference, ‘Education in a Changing Reality,’ was sponsored by Ma’agalim, a national educational non-profit organization that empowers 11th and 12th-grade at-risk youth from Israel’s geographical and social peripheries and helps them undergo a process of personal growth.

The conference focused on several perennially important topics which have assumed even greater importance over the past year, including the impact that socioeconomic background has a predictor of future success, how the easing of regulations for drug uses affects teens, and if a matriculation certificate (Teudat Bagrut) is necessary for all students.

President Reuven Rivlin opened the conference, saying, “We will need to work very hard for many years to bridge this missing year of education, and heal the gaps and damage that has been done to our resilience.” Rivlin praised Ma’agalim as an organization that recognizes the importance of bridging gaps, provides resources for all Israeli youth, helps them complete their high school education and embark on meaningful army service.

Interviews with leading personalities – including Miriam Peretz, MK and Minister of Education Yoav Galant, businessman Rami Levy, former education minister Gideon Saar, former education minister Rabbi Shai Piron, MK Yifat Shasha Biton, and former defense minister Naftali Bennett – were screened at the conference. In addition, ‘Ted Talk’ speeches were delivered by former justice minister MK Ayelet Shaked, and Michal Cohen, CEO of the Rashi Foundation. Retorno CEO Rabbi Eitan Eckstein, Mechurim L’Chaim (‘Addicted to Life’) CEO,  Tzur Raphael, and Ma’agalim teens participated in a panel focusing on the impact of the legalization of drug use on youth. Two other panel discussions dealt with the question of whether socioeconomic background predicts success in life and if the matriculation certificate is suitable for all students.

Assaf Weiss, Ma’agalim CEO, said: “This conference has been a great success because for the first time, instead of talking about the youth, we are talking to them. Instead of dealing with topics that seem important to us, we are dealing with what interests them. Instead of trying to adapt them to our education, we adapt education to their reality. This creates changes and influences youth. I hope that the issues discussed as well as the conclusions that came from the conference will help us all move forward, evolve and transform the formal and informal educational system.”