Israel achieved a great leap forward in education- UPDATED

PM Netanyahu in yesterday’s Cabinet meeting addressed the remarkable success his administration has accomplished in education:

“Today, I would like to commend Education Minister Saar and the teachers who are here. We have here an extraordinary achievement by the education system. We know that in recent years, we declined on the international tests and it seemed that the people of the book had simply drifted away from its special designation and purpose to pursue excellence. We said: We are restoring Zionism and excellence – science and heritage. We said so and we did it, and there are very great achievements here thanks to Israel’s teachers, thanks to the parents, thanks to the director generals, and thanks to the leadership of the Education Minister, the Education Ministry and the unwavering support of the government of Israel. We invested resources. We gave our support and backing so that we might reach today.

I do not want to say that a great miracle happened here because this was not a miracle; this was a considered policy in which we changed the entire trend.

Now I would like to hear from you Gideon, not just about what has been achieved but about how we will promise the next government that Israel’s children will continue to climb higher and higher – there isn’t much left to climb for in achievements but we do want to continue.”

Education Minister Saar:

“Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. At the start of my remarks, I would, first of
all, like to thank you. Without your personal backing for all of the reforms,
for all of the measures that we implemented and without the change in the place of education on the national list of priorities, which found expression in the state budget, we could not have carried out the same revolution that has been seen in the achievements – and there has been a dramatic revolution in the achievements of Israeli pupils.

Therefore, this achievement stems from very systematic work and from the backing that you gave me.

The impressive achievements by the pupils, in all areas, are the results, first of all, of hard work. But what happened here is not just a revolution in achievements it is, first of all, a revolution in awareness. It is a revolution that says – we can. We have the most capable pupils, we can achieve better results. On the way here this morning, Mr. Prime Minister, I heard something on the radio that said: If we reached 14th place, it would have been logical but 7th place is too good. I tell the State of Israel and the Jewish People, in principle, according to our tradition of the love of study, of intellect and of perspicaciousness, even 7th place need not be the maximum achievement. We can reach better achievements and believe that we can do so in the future, and we can.

During these years, in the media, there were films on the education system, which our achievements have surpassed, and I very much hope that one of the Israeli media channels will make a film on what happened here during this term, to analyze how this happened.

We worked correctly, and we will detail here how this happened, but we worked hard and I, first of all, would like to thank the pedagogical staff. This is a great group that gives its soul, that works with a sense of mission, everyone preaches to it and explains to it how to educate, this is an excellent group.

I say, Mr. Prime Minister, that if we continue to on this path in the future as well, which is also one of investment – and we believe that spending on education is not an expenditure, it is an investment (and I believe that the next government, which you will head, will continue on the same path), of policy as well, of setting measurable goals in all areas – including that of violence in schools and participation in youth groups – we set measurable goals in all areas, and, by the way, we met them all. If we continue on this path, we can anticipate that we will lead in education and we will lead the western countries, as we have already proven that this is possible.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu:

“I think that there is very great importance in that there was a willingness to set goals here. In the economy, we were in a similar situation. We trailed the West and we fell and we enacted far-reaching changes that jumped the Israeli economy forward, and this also continued during the present term. I think that as a result of our having the strength to come and say: We are measuring ourselves; we want to be first in job creation, in growth, certainly at the top of the list. The same thing happened in education – we trailed the West and today we are at the top. In mathematics, it was a great jump, also in science and in reading comprehension; these are very great achievements. They stem from the willingness to set goals for excellence and to adhere to them, invest in them and not be concerned about being measured according to them. I think that this was simply a very great achievement for the State of Israel and for Israelis.”

2. Education Minister Saar and senior Education Ministry officials briefed ministers on the significant improvement in achievements by Israeli pupils on the international TIMSS and PIRLS tests.

A year ago Jewish Week interviewed the minister:

What are some of the challenges that are unique to Israel’s education system?

We are doing three things. One, improving significantly our educational achievements. The results we have seen in previous years in international tests were not satisfying. Basically, in every field — mother tongue [Hebrew and Arabic], math and sciences there is a big improvement.

My assumption is that since we saw a significant improvement [since the previous tests in 2006] we will see also improvements in results of the international tests we participated in last year that are going to be published at the end of this year, especially with teens and girls.

We for the first time put in measurable targets for the system to achieve in all fields, in all levels national and international, but also reducing violence in our schools and enforcing discipline. I have seen an improvement in participation in non-formal educational activities like youth movements.

The second thing is to return values to our education system, to strengthen Jewish Zionist democratic and social values. It is important when we define the aims or goals of our education system to not only give knowledge but also strengthen values that will afterwards influence the lives of adults in Israeli society.

The third target is a strategic one; I believe in what the McKinsey [consulting firm] reports from 2007 demonstrated, that the most important [factor] for the education system to be successful is the quality of the teachers.

The problem our system and other Western societies have seen during the last decade was significant reduction in the desire to be a teacher. First, we saw the males escape from the profession; after that to certain extent women going are now going to business, to law and other professions.

… We upgraded salaries of teachers, we changed hours of work, and we [implemented] elements of measurement and evaluation of teachers … we made it easier to fire failed teachers. We did some other things in our system that I think influence the will of people to be a teacher or to stay in the system: combating violence, adding discipline, digitalizing schools and adjusting the system to the 21st century.

You mentioned the low test scores, but at the same time Israel has gained a reputation as a world leader in high-tech startups. Is there a contradiction there?

It’s a good question. There are some elements you don’t check in international tests such as innovation; that’s one thing. The second thing is you have gaps in an education system. Just to give you one example, take the PISA tests of 2009: the main issue there was mother tongue. Israel was 37 among 64 countries, but if you take Hebrew speakers, we are 17 out of 64; if you take Arabic speakers we were 57 out of 64. So the average was 37, but it doesn’t tell you the whole story.

Of course we work hard in order to reduce gaps in our education system to improve the results of the Arabic students. As far as I can judge we did it significantly during the last term.

Looking to the situation in the United States, you have, speaking averagely, the [best] higher education system if you compare it to other countries but I’m not sure that it is the same if you are speaking about schools in previous education stages … these systems are more complicated and sometimes these results don’t tell you the whole story … I don’t want to reduce the significance of the results for us; it’s a red [flag] that demonstrates the necessity for us to improve our results.

What is the impact on schools in the north and south when they have to be closed because of rocket attacks?

In the north we have already had six years of quiet, so today we don’t have this problem. In the south we know during this year several times we lost some days. … We know how to work through the [Internet] in order to have distance learning that compensates in a way on the losses of days of learning and we know how to give the psychological help, which is needed. Unfortunately it’s one of the things we learn to do in our country, but altogether it was short periods of time. I don’t think it had significant influence on the system, at least not in the years that I am in office.

Can you discuss the challenges of absorbing so many diverse students, from Ethiopians to people from the former Soviet Union, into your system?

When I meet European ministers they always want to learn from our experience … of course we have challenges [but] I think compared with other countries we know how to do it better.

For us, aliyah is something very important. It’s not a reality that is imposed on us; it’s our wish. We have in my ministry a department of absorption that builds and gives special programs for these students.

What is the main impact of students in Israel delaying university in order to serve in the army?

Next year we’re beginning a new pilot program in our schools called Academy in High School, trying to take very talented students mainly from the social and geographical periphery to give them lectures [on a university level] to start to gain points toward academic degree during high school. On one hand we want to develop talented students, and on the other we want to bridge this problem you just talked about.

When you look into data of higher education, at a glance, our country is very high in terms of youngsters going to higher education, No. 2 in the world, after Canada, but quite together with Canada. So it does not affect seriously the numbers that go to higher education. But in terms of our economy, it’s a problem because they are going later to the labor market.

The finance minister has supported shortening the military service [by six months], and it’s one of things that will be discussed during the coming year. Men right now are doing three years.

How does Israel financially assist veterans in getting an education?

We recently passed a law increasing subsidies for the first year for students if they served in the army, in colleges in the north and south and in Jerusalem, and we are looking for more and more ways to do that.

How do university costs compare to the U.S.?

Our tuitions are quite low; as a matter of fact we negotiated with the Students Union two years ago about making it a little higher but we didn’t have an agreement. Today they pay [the equivalent of] about $3,000 to $3,500 a year in the majority of our universities and colleges. Of course we have a few private colleges where you pay more … The majority of the university budgets are coming from state support. Only about 20 percent comes from tuition, the rest from the government and contributions.

Are you concerned about an academic brain drain?

We are of course No. 1 in the world in exporting brains. What happened in the past is we had so many severe cuts in our education system. Right now we have a six-year plan to add new jobs. We are also in the process of establishing Excellence Centers at 10 locations throughout the country; four are already open. What we found is, it is not necessary that [academics] earn the same amount they earned abroad, but it is necessary that they will have a job in their field and an environment of serious research in that field.