Universities to offer incentives for high level mathematics matriculation exam

All leading universities will take part in offering the incentive.

By LIDAR GRAVÉ-LAZI
Updated: DECEMBER 20, 2015 20:01
Education Minister Naftali Bennett teaching math to students in Petah Tikva, May 28. (photo credit: COURTESY EDUCATION MINISTRY)
Education Minister Naftali Bennett teaching math to students in Petah Tikva, May 28.
(photo credit: COURTESY EDUCATION MINISTRY)
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 to students to pursue higher level studies 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 which was given to date.
So that 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, Haifa University and the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology – will take part in offering the incentive.
“Everybody has enlisted for the mathematics reform,” he said on Sunday.
“I was happy to discover that within a short time, all Israeli universities adopted my request to raise the bonus to five unit math students from 25 to 35 points. This is an unprecedented mobilization for Israel's students and for strengthening the study of mathematics,” he said.
Bennett also called on students to “make the effort” to study mathematics at a higher level.
“I urge students who are debating between four and five units - make the effort. We will continue to strengthen the system of incentives to all sides: students, teachers, administrators and parents,” he said.