Education

Missing school in the Netherlands for a vacation leads to heavy fines of 100 euros per day per child, surprise inspections, and even investigations at airports. Testimony from an Israeli woman living there reveals how the strict system works.

Nachman Fried arrived at Ziv Neurim in the eighth grade, when the sea was foreign to him and school was a source of trouble. Today, he is an instructor at the organization, representing it in sailing competitions and helping other teens find their way. "The sea changed me for the better," he says.

A teacher who joined the education system as part of the personal contract track says that on the very first day of school she encountered hostile treatment from teachers at the school. According to her, she left a job as a programmer and came to the system out of a love for teaching: "I approach someone and she simply ignores me and giggles in my face."

The relationship between the Syrian leader al-Julani and the Druze residents in As-Suwayda remains tense. Community members are now demanding that final exams be held within their region rather than near Damascus.

The government has declared a state of emergency in STEM studies and allocated about 1.5 billion shekels to the program. The program has already begun to operate, but parts of it are outside the scope of monitoring. The "Monitor" section of Globes and the Center for Citizen Empowerment is tracking the "Real Israel" program.

Leading figures in the Israeli retail sector have launched a first-of-its-kind bachelor's degree program that combines academic studies with practical internships to train the next generation of industry managers.

The New York City municipality is tightening regulations on technology use in schools ahead of the new academic year. Elementary students will face a ban on AI and personal screens until the third grade.

While most students started the school year in the classroom, dozens of students from the "Mekor Chaim" yeshiva put on work clothes and began harvesting and weeding. The students participated in activities as part of the "Shorashim" program, which combines agricultural work with educational and values-based activities. Over the course of the year, more than a thousand students from dozens of...

A call for applications for the training of "practical engineers in the healthcare system" is sparking opposition among speech therapists. The association claims that instead of "therapy assistants" with limited authority, a 2,000-hour program is being created that could blur professional boundaries: "Devastating consequences for the quality of care."

Ofri Rafael from Moshav Nativ HaAsara studies in a special education class in Ashkelon and is defined as 100% nursing-dependent. According to her parents, although the council knew as early as July that she needed a personal aide, no solution was found by the start of the school year. Her father stated: 'She needs company. She cried when she heard she might not go to school.' The council responded...

Former Beit Shemesh mayor Aliza Bloch, now with the "Ha-Achdut" party, has unveiled a comprehensive education reform plan. Her agenda includes empowering principals, introducing personal contracts for top teachers, and replacing the 12th grade with a "national preparatory year."

Advocate Shirit Sadan, who won the Mifal HaPayis religious essay competition, proved that it is possible to do otherwise and donated the entire sum to establish libraries in the young settlements.

The coverage does not end at the school gate. Personal accident insurance for students, provided as part of parental payments, may also apply when a child is injured at home, at an extracurricular activity, or on vacation.

Daniel gave up a comfortable career in high-tech, Rotem continues the path of her late father, and Paz moved to the Gaza envelope despite her illness. As the school year begins, the new educators explain why they are not willing to give up on the classroom, despite the workload and low pay.

Walla's exposure regarding the placement of ten medical nurses in schools across the country has reached the doors of the Supreme Court. A petition was filed on behalf of the Yahal association against the Ministry of Education, claiming that the emerging program endangers children with allergies: "The safety of helpless children is not a field for 'trial and error'."

The students were left without an educational framework, and according to their parents, the reason is the opposition of the ultra-Orthodox parties to schools that teach a full core curriculum. "Political figures in the municipality, led by a representative from Shas, are inciting against the establishment of the state-religious school," they attacked. The municipality: "The institution was...

During a visit to the "Gvanim" elementary school in Ein HaMifratz for the start of the 5787 school year, President Isaac Herzog announced his intention to become a teacher once his term at the President's Residence concludes.

The state-Haredi stream's Talmud Torah schools were left without a building. Parents are furious, claiming that Shas representative Avi Amsalem and municipal officials are blocking the establishment of the institutions. MK Moshe Tur-Paz, who arrived at the protest, said: "Shas blocked the move." The municipality has yet to respond.

A new program that opened for the first time in the capital will train students in the design and construction of UAVs. The track combines engineering, electronics, and computer science, and grants a technological matriculation certificate of 10 study units.

About 1,000 students have left Kiryat Shmona since the outbreak of the war, but at the Ort Danziger school, they recorded a full return to the classroom. Children arrive even from outside the city: "They did not give up on being students here." Yet, the total number of students in the city's educational framework has dropped from 5,500 to 4,500.

180,000 children started first grade today, but for many, the opening of the school year is much more than a regular return to the classroom. Omri, whose home was hit by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, reunited with his friends; the "HaNadiv" school reopened in Metula; the early childhood system resumed operations in Holit, and new families joined the communities of the North and the Gaza...

Children from the Beit Shemesh kindergarten, whose original building was damaged by a missile strike, began the school year in a new location. Following rapid preparations, the school year started on schedule. Mayor Shmuel Greenberg visited the site to welcome the staff and children to the new facility.

The Samaria Regional Council reported that over 25,000 students began the school year this Tuesday. The education system, which includes 28 elementary schools, 11 high schools, and 168 kindergartens, welcomed 1,440 first-graders. This year, the council is opening four new high schools and eight kindergartens, six of which were established in new settlements in northern Samaria.

The school year in Lebanon is expected to begin on September 15, but about 80 schools are still serving as shelters for families displaced from their homes by the war. About 340 schools were damaged and about 30 were completely destroyed, and the Ministry of Education is preparing to return students to classrooms: "We have a solution for every shelter, and no student will be left without a place."

Medieval teachers and students found a sophisticated way to practice the alphabet: instead of rote repetition, they used rhythmic sentences containing all 22 letters and the five final forms.

While Education Minister Yoav Kisch promotes AI in schools, research shows that 76% of teachers lack the necessary pedagogical knowledge, and actual classroom integration remains low.

A new study by the Taub Center explains the critical importance of basic skills in the AI era. "You can let AI write and calculate for you, but to verify the results, you must know the basics yourself," says Prof. Gil Epstein.

Without threats of strikes, with a lot of hope: among the millions returning to school are 180,000 starting first grade. Some will begin in the legendary school of Metula, which stood empty until now. In the Gaza envelope, they are returning to study at home after about 3 years of wandering. The expectation: "That it will be interesting in class and fun at recess."

Hundreds of parents are protesting against the installation of solar systems on the roofs of educational institutions and are demanding to stop the work until safety measures and radiation tests are implemented. According to them, the response they received from the council is insufficient: "We are not against green energy - we are for our children."

Closing the circle: teachers who return to teach in the place where they were once students. For the student who once sat in the back row by the window, and perhaps sometimes struggled to concentrate, standing in front of the class with a dry-erase marker in hand is a personal victory and a statement of intent.

In the communities of the Galilee Panhandle, the opening of the school year will be marked tomorrow. Despite a relatively stable summer, the scars of war and evacuation are still felt, and the region continues to struggle to bring back families who chose to stay in the center of the country.

Just before September 1st, at the WIZO Kiryat Shalom daycare in Tel Aviv, the excitement is already felt: classrooms are being cleaned, walls are being painted, equipment is being arranged, and the staff is preparing to receive the children. However, behind the festive preparations hides a much more complex reality: a severe shortage of manpower has led to the fact that the baby class at the...

The average salary for a 100% position reaches about 16.6 thousand shekels, and the median is about 15.1 thousand; for veteran teachers, the salary reaches more than 20 thousand shekels, and in management, it is already approaching 30 thousand. The pay slips of young teachers are indeed lower, but a large part of the gap comes from part-time positions and a salary structure that rewards seniority...

A special incentive plan is being offered to teaching staff who will begin teaching in the confrontation line communities in the north in the coming year, but for some teachers, the choice to arrive precisely in a place that suffered destruction and severe damage is first and foremost an ideological statement. "Mainly to provide a horizon and hope for the children, who did not choose anything from...

The new backpack is waiting by the door, but before the child enters school for the first time, parents face a significant shopping list. A backpack, pencil case, notebooks, writing utensils, and textbooks add up to a substantial amount. How much does it really cost to prepare a child for first grade?

74% of students participating in the initiative in Tel Aviv do not use smartphones during breaks or do so rarely. Teachers report more social activity. In the coming school year, the initiative will be expanded to all 37 secondary schools in the city.

The school year will open in the Gaza Envelope communities with about 9% more students than on the eve of October 7. The increase in the number of students is taking place in parallel with the continued return of communities to Kissufim, Holit, and Kfar Aza. In Sderot, an increase of about 16% in the number of students was recorded.

The parents' struggle succeeded: just moments before the return to school, the Petah Tikva municipality announced that the defendants in the shocking murder case will not return to the city's high schools, but rather an "alternative framework" will be found for them. One of the protest leaders: "There is a value-based and moral statement here."

15-year-old Michal works as a babysitter to buy herself shoes, while her mother is forced to forgo school equipment and clothes. Data from the Latet organization reveals: 63.2% of children in supported families lack basic school supplies, and two out of every five are forced to work due to the financial distress at home.

Ahead of the start of the 5787 school year, a senior ministry official claims that the data to be presented does not reflect reality. "The minister and the director general are lying through their teeth," the official said. Within the system, reports are coming in of classrooms without homeroom teachers and of ongoing recruitment of teachers for many subjects.

Crime is affecting their functioning and achievements, causing some of them not to show up at school. A document from the Center for the Advancement of Safety in Arab Society warns of severe damage to youth and educational staff in the sector, and claims there is no comprehensive policy on the issue: "Protecting the children and the staff is a condition for the system's ability to protect them."...

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has mandated the formulation of a unified core curriculum by the 2026/27 school year. Failure to comply will result in Haredi education networks being required to adopt the standard religious education curriculum.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has ordered the National Authority for Measurement and Evaluation in Education (RAMA) to publish the results of the 'Tnufa' science exams, overriding a ban by Education Minister Yoav Kisch. Only 3% of students reached the required level.

Three days before the start of the school year, the budget crisis between the Ministry of Education and the Neve Midbar Regional Council has reached a peak. The council, which serves over 22,000 students in the diaspora while having only 12,000 registered residents, refuses to commit to expenses without full reimbursement. Parent committees have now joined the strike threat, warning that the...

Parents of students at the new School of the Arts in the Kfar Shalem neighborhood of Tel Aviv are threatening to strike in protest against the enrollment of children of foreign workers who do not live in the area. They claim the decision was made without transparency and without meeting entrance requirements. Parents' representative: "The neighborhood's children are being harmed by the decisions."

Ahead of the new school year, Microsoft reminds students and teachers in the Israeli education system that they are eligible for a free Microsoft 365 license. The suite includes Copilot AI and can be installed on up to five devices.

Ahead of the start of the school year, the organization "Nevet - A Sandwich for Every Child" sent empty lunch boxes to party leaders. According to the organization's data, about 100,000 students in Israel need a regular breakfast at school. Nevet calls for the promotion of a national program that will ensure a meal for students who arrive at school without food.

23 kindergartens in northern border communities will open this year even though the number of children in them is below the standard. About 11 million shekels will be allocated for the decision, which is intended to encourage families to return and join the communities. In Margaliot, the number of children has already doubled, and ten new families have joined in Zarit.

Ahead of new restrictions on phone use in middle schools, students, parents, and educators agree that screens have become a problem, but believe that a ban alone will not solve it. Dr. Rotem Eliyahu warns: "Other skills will not return on their own."

Although it often flies under the radar, local government is one of the most important players in the education system. Municipalities spend thousands of shekels on every student, but they are less active when they need to understand exactly where the money is going. And also: how did it happen that a small and surprising city took first place in the ranking of investment in education?