Welcome Back to School
Tuesday, September 1, marked the opening of the new school year in Israel. Almost two thousand students from first to twelfth grades woke up excited and walked to their first day of school. Other than the last day of school, this is probably the only day students are excited!
Most Israeli schools are open six days a week, from Sunday through Friday, with first period beginning at 8:00 am. Most schools don’t serve lunch, and the term “Hafsakat eser”--10:00 a.m. break--has become a popular expression, as that’s when kids enjoy their homemade sandwiches and snacks. In the past, many schools required uniforms, but today most schools just have a basic dress code.
When the State of Israel was founded in 1948, a fully functioning Hebrew educational system already existed, built and maintained by the Yishuv, the pre-state Jewish community. These schools had successfully met the challenges of reviving the Hebrew language and integrating new immigrants who came to Palestine, then Israel. Over the past 60 years, Israel has welcomed more than three million immigrants, and its school population has increased accordingly. Today, Israel divides its schools into four categories: state schools, which are secular; state-religious; Haredi (ultra-Orthodox); and Arab. The majority of children in Israel attend state schools. State-religious schools cater to youngsters from the Orthodox community and offer intensive Jewish studies programs. Arab schools teach in Arabic and offer a curriculum that emphasizes Arab history, religion, and culture. The Haredi schools operate independently, but must adhere to a core curriculum determined by the Ministry of Education to receive funding. A minority of Israeli children attend private schools, where parents pay tuition, and the Ministry of Education supervises the curriculum.
Mandatory education starts at the age of kindergarten and runs through twelfth grade. Israeli high schools prepare students for the Israeli matriculation exams (bagrut), which cover various academic disciplines. Students with a passing grade on the bagrut receive a full matriculation certificate, which enables them, along with other tests, to apply for university admission. In recent years, 75 percent of Israeli twelfth graders took the bagrut exams. Fifty-two percent of high-school graduates enlist in the army, with men serving at least three years and women serving two. The remaining 48 percent are exempted from military service for religious, health, or other reasons. Some young Israelis choose to do national service instead of serving in the army.
More than 50 percent of Israelis travel abroad after being released from the army. This has become another rite of passage in Israeli life, with exotic destinations in Asia and Latin America the most popular.
In the this picture, a Hebrew sign in Bangkok reads: "The center for the traveler.”
The "backpack" phenomena has delayed college to a later stage, and it's normal for young Israelis to start their higher education at the age of 23/24 or older.
The school year in Israel is based on the Jewish calendar, and all school breaks fall around Jewish holidays. The three major school vacations fall on Sukkot, Hanukkah and Pesach. The first of January is a regular school/work day, as we celebrate New Year on Rosh Hashanah.
Israel’s school system faces the enormous challenge of integrating large numbers of children from different cultural backgrounds. In addition to meeting urgent demands for more classrooms and qualified teachers for the rapidly increasing number of pupils, the educational system has tried to develop appropriate methods to help absorb the newcomers, which include Hebrew language classes and Jewish history. English is taught in most schools, usually starting in second or third grade. The first sentence Israeli students learn to spell in first grade is: "Shalom Kitah Alef," which means Shalom first grade. Many songs and phrases are based on these three words, as they mark a new beginning and hope.