Education Misinformation

Yesterday, the Ministry of Education released its figures relating to the 2008/9 academic year. The headline figure shows that 44% of Israeli 17-year-olds earned a matriculation certificate during the year, and that 20% of Israeli youngster fail to complete high school at all. There also seems to be a decline in the results year on year, with a continuing large gap between the achievements of Jewish and Arab kids.

Behind the numbers, however, I feel lie many unstated facts. These are purely based on my personal experiences as a father of two high school-age boys. I should start by saying that there is a good deal wrong with the Israeli education system, and there is no shortage of areas for improvement. But, when considering the “big picture”, there are also many positive aspects to consider.

Israeli children have more than one bite at the cherry. Those who enter the army without a matriculation are allocated by the army to a unit which will support them in the completion of their high school studies during the period of their national service. In addition, many kids independently retake exams during the period of their army service or thereafter, in order to improve their grades. The results achieved by this group is not considered in the official Ministry of Education numbers.

When we consider the achievements of Israeli students in higher education, a number of facts stand out. Israeli universities and colleges are overflowing with high quality students, with many others who are not accepted due to lack of places. An examination of foreign students studying at Ivy League colleges in the USA or Oxbridge universities in England show a disproportionate number of Israeli students represented at these institutions. This indicates that Israel must be doing something right in its education system?

In a world where education seems to be on the decline in general, there is still a great deal of work to do in this area.