Finance Ministry joins Bank of Israel recommendation • The move should save NIS 250 million per day, reducing the gap between parents 'and students' vacation days

• Uncomplicated formula: more days off, less work // Illustration photography: Getyiimages

About a year later, the Treasury joins the Bank of Israel and recommends that school be canceled on Fridays. Canceling school on this day will save the economy NIS 250 million per working day, but will require the opening of all national and sectoral labor agreements and cost tens of billions of NIS a year. During the course of the week, there is a difficulty that "Fridays" in the non-Jewish sector apply on other days of the week.

The move will require the opening of collective labor agreements, which will require the agreement of the General Histadrut, the teachers' committees and comprehensive legislation in the Knesset.

The Ministry of Finance explained the recommendation: Unlike the other OECD countries, students in Israel study six days a week, while teaching staff are employed only five days a week. “This situation is leading to an increase in the demand for teaching staff, while at the same time creating mismatches between student vacations and parental leave.

Israeli students open school year // Photos: Moshe Ben Simhon, June Rickner, newsenders

"While most parents in the economy are employed five work days a week and are not employed on Fridays, students are in school on Fridays, and on the other hand - are absent from school on many days that are regular work days in the economy, such as Banned Holidays, Chanukah, the week before Passover, weekdays. Etc. This discrepancy results in a situation where parents are required to be absent from the workplace. "

This is a real detriment to economic activity in the economy at these fixed times. This damage is estimated at about NIS 250 million for each day. Adjusting the days when the students are not at school to the days when the parents are not in the workplace will increase the feasibility of parents to participate in the labor market, increase economic activity in the economy and even streamline the structure of the teaching staff's work week.

Teaching workers are entitled to 96 days off compared to other employed persons in the economy, including other civil servants, who are entitled to only nine. According to a report by the Ministry of Finance, teachers' wages in relation to the OECD countries are not low, but the pay gap between veteran teachers and beginning teachers is very high.

According to the Treasury, for most of the year teachers are on vacation: two days of Yom Kippur, Purim three days, Tishrei holidays in September and October, nine days, December six days, and July and August (the big vacation) - 54 days.

The education system has 128,596 teachers who earn an average of NIS 12,848. The median salary of half of the teachers is higher than NIS 11,252, twice the median salary in the economy - even before the holidays. However, substitute teachers earn less than the minimum wage - NIS 4,496. Teachers without a college degree earn NIS 8,674, teachers with a bachelor's degree earn NIS 9,880, and teachers with a master's degree earn NIS 13,249.

Preschool administrators (1.7% of teachers) earn an average of NIS 18,569. Middle school administrators (0.4% of teachers) earn an average of NIS 21,470. School administrators (2% of teachers) earn an average of NIS 23,388. Teachers-CEOs earn an average of NIS 23,399.