Lazimi and Farkash-Hacohen: Haredim receive funding for "summer schools" despite ongoing studies
MKs appealed to the Ministry of Education and the Finance Committee's legal advisor, demanding a freeze on budgets for "ptur" institutions. They argue that these schools continue regular studies in July while claiming funds intended for summer activities.
MKs Naama Lazimi and Orit Farkash-Hacohen appealed today, Monday, to the Director General of the Ministry of Education and the legal advisor of the Finance Committee, demanding to delay the approval of the budget for "summer vacation schools" in "ptur" institutions ahead of the committee's discussion on Wednesday.
The "ptur" institutions, explain Lazimi and Farkash-Hacohen, do not provide a full core curriculum, but in practice, they continue a regular study routine throughout most of July. Instead of examining what is actually happening in the classrooms during that period, the Ministry of Education, according to them, settles for formal approvals only. It labels those regular school days as "summer vacation school" — a definition that entitles the institutions to a summer budget that was not intended for them.
The two demand that the funding not be approved until it is proven that this is a genuine summer activity separate from the routine. "It is impossible to present a regular school day as a summer camp and transfer a budget for it that was intended for a framework that is not part of the studies," stated Lazimi and Farkash-Hacohen, adding that the Finance Committee "will not serve as a rubber stamp for a budgetary scheme."
