Sa’ar unveils education budget for 2011-2012

Largest portion of proposed budget goes to elementary shools, who would receive 34% of entire budget; 30% increase for administration.

By BEN HARTMAN
Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar (Likud) on Monday presented the Knesset Finance Committee with his budget proposal for the school system for 2011 and 2012, which if approved, will see spending increase by nearly NIS 4 billion.
The proposal would see the budget climb to NIS 37.5b. in 2011 and NIS 38.5b. in 2012, increases of 7.5 percent and 3.8%, respectively. Assuming they are approved, the budget will have increased 34.1% since 2006, when the state spent NIS 27.13b. on education.
The largest portion of the proposal would go to elementary schools, which would receive 34% of the entire budget. The draft budget includes a 30.2% increase in funding for education administration and 11.7% for private education, as well as a 61.5% rise in spending on renovating educational institutions.
During the Finance Committee meeting, Sa’ar called on the government to reduce expenditures on national security in order to increasing spending on education.
Sa’ar also spoke of plans to add NIS 620 million over the next two years to the New Horizon reform, which is currently being implemented in 93% of elementary schools.
The reform increases teacher pay and hours and decreases class sizes.
Sa’ar called for greater spending on at-risk students, and on state subsidies for school trips to Poland.
The committee unanimously approved the transfer of NIS 240m. cuts from other offices’ 2010 budgets to the Higher Education Council.