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Part Three - The Social Program
Education (2/2)
Reducing Core Requirements
Today, the public discourse is rife with references to "core curriculum," especially in the context of the clash with the ultra-Orthodox public education system. In fact, a closer look reveals that, on a surface level, core curriculum is generally implemented. There are seven compulsory subjects that make up the core curriculum: citizenship, English, history, mathematics, literature, Hebrew, and Bible. These subjects are supposed to provide a uniform standard for all graduates of the formal education system in Israel, but in practice, every segment of the population establishes its own standard for graduation and teaches its own version of these subjects (one history for state schools, one for religious state schools, one for the ultra-Orthodox, one for the Arabs, and so on). Zehut will reduce the core curriculum considerably to only those subjects needed in order to be a graduate with the ability to function properly in Israeli society. History, literature and Bible are very important, and every parent who chooses to teach these subjects to his children is blessed, but there is no reason to withhold funding from a parent who chooses a school that does not teach them. Moreover, we will reduce the requirements in the vital core curriculum subjects of Hebrew, math and English to the bare minimum, which will allow for more innovation in networks and schools, in order to get a more professional and competitive product.
The Course of the School Year
Giving schools the freedom to act will open a healthy competition in many areas. A simple but significant example is the length of vacations and the number of vacation days per year. For example, in 2012, the number of vacation days observed by elementary schools in the state system that are not official holidays comes to 66 days, compared with an average of 55 in OECD countries.[8] In this area, the voucher system would lead to a situation similar to that in most U.S. states, where the school board determines the holidays (aside from official holidays) autonomously, and can dovetail with the number of vacation days in the workplace.
The Start of the Academic Year
Currently, the school year begins on the first of September, often just a few days before the Jewish New Year holiday season. Jewish holidays require multiple vacation days at the beginning of the year. Since Israel's workplaces are on vacation on Jewish holidays, an absurd situation is created where the vacation calendars of children and their parents are not coordinated. This also hampers the ability of the teachers to properly prepare the students for the upcoming High Holidays.
Zehut will set the beginning of the school year according to the Jewish calendar on the first day of Elul, both as a moral statement of pride in Jewish heritage values, and as an answer to the logistical problems of mixing calendars.
More Professional, Less Mandatory
Today, the Compulsory Education Law applies from age 3 until the end of the twelfth grade. Graduates of the education system should have sufficient knowledge and skills to become independent citizens capable of supporting themselves with dignity. Unfortunately, many who complete their school years and even those who matriculate are unable to find decent employment, diplomas notwithstanding. The reason for this is that the matriculation certificate has gone from being a certificate of graduation from the educational system, to an entrance ticket to higher academic education. But not every graduate is suited to and interested in academic learning, and the state has thus imposed on the student many years of professional stagnation without any proper justification, and without him having any say in the matter.
Zehut will work on two levels: on the one hand ending compulsory education at the end of tenth grade, which is long enough to undergo a process of significant education, without compromising the ability of professional advancement for those not interested in academia. On the other hand, the Education Ministry and educational networks will establish an educational system directed towards the development of those students who will continue their studies towards their future as independent adults. One track will be the establishment of pre-academic introductory courses in which students will study courses on an introductory academic level, and may be admitted to university based on their achievements in these courses. This method will reduce both the need for matriculation exams, which has become a very problematic assessment tool (countless cases of copying each year), and the psychometric exam, which is a problematic screening tool.[9]
The second track will be the restoration of trade education to schools in grades 11 and 12, and even 13. The economy is in desperate need of skilled manual workers, such as welders, electricians, chefs and carpenters, and the educational system must create appropriate certification tests, so that educational networks and schools will be able to train students who are interested. Currently there is a response to a similar demand, for example, in hotel management. instead of giving professions a façade of academic graduation, we propose to establish a system of appropriate professional training in a variety of occupations that are needed in the economy. Parents will choose what their children learn with the help of their voucher.
Homeschooling
The present compulsory education law permits parents to educate their children by means of homeschooling. The problem is that the education system does not approve of this phenomenon and places many obstacles in the way, even harassing parents and their children. Just as a small example, if a child designated as gifted is homeschooled, that child loses the right to participate in enrichment programs for which he would otherwise be eligible. Zehut recognizes the right of parents to raise their children in the way they believe, including by homeschooling. Therefore, Education Ministry regulations that limit homeschooling will be updated so that this option will be open to any parent who wants it, without harm being caused to him or his children. In addition, we will weigh an option of redeeming a voucher at a reduced value for the purposes of homeschooling (courses, materials and so on).
Free is not Obligatory
To close this chapter, we return to the beginning, and will deal with young kindergarten children. In this area, it is important to emphasize the profound difference between free education and education as a legal obligation. In September 2012 the State of Israel determined that the Free Education Law would apply from the age of 3, but along with this, it also made education compulsory from that age as of 2015. Zehut will stop this dangerous move and allow parents to raise their young children up to the age of kindergarten in the way they see fit, without any coercion from "Big Brother." Free preschool education is sufficiently "generous" and has its own complex implications, but there is no need to turn the tables and require parents to place their children in an educational framework at such a young age.
[8] https://www.knesset.gov.il/mmm/data/pdf/m03010.pdf
[9] Both in terms of how much consideration the assessment is given and in terms of its cost in time and money, which extract a high price from the Israeli economy.
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