After it was approved to reduce the parents' payments, it turns out that the expenses for distance learning only increase • "Parents are asked to pay for shows when they do not have money for a computer" • But there is a bright spot - kindergartens are preparing to share the payments with parents in case of closure • All details

• Shopping for the school year

  Photo: 

  Dudu Greenspan

Expenses in the Corona Year: The school year in the shadow of the Corona will look different and will also feel different in the pocket - students will study mainly at home, the prohibitions of the gathering will reduce social events, parties, trips with accommodation and classes. But that's just one side of the story. Preparing for home learning will require parents to purchase computers, reorganize learning environments, and in some cases bridge learning gaps through private lessons - which will increase expenses.

The Knesset's Education Committee yesterday approved the parents' payments for the coming school year, and these are slightly reduced payments compared to previous years. Parents will pay NIS 49 for personal accident insurance, NIS 70-160 for a culture basket and NIS 60-616 for annual trips, depending on age group.

However, in the first stage the parents will have to pay only half of the amount in these sections, and the rest will be approved according to the ability to hold cultural events and trips. For borrowing books, parents will pay NIS 280-320. The payment for graduation ceremonies and end-of-year parties has been abolished, but it is still in the amounts of hundreds to thousands of shekels per student. For this reason some parents are waging a war against parental payments, probably against the background of the Ministry of Education's promise in previous years that parental payments will be reduced - something that did not happen. 

According to Nirit Leibowitz, of the "Payments 0" organization for transparency in parental payments: "We encounter daily inquiries from parents whose burden of payments required in the education system has been increased dozens of times since the outbreak. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Education and Knesset choose, once again, to ignore reality "The parents, within a system that is supposed to provide free public education. It is absurd that parents are asked to pay for plays, when their children do not even have a computer for distance learning."

562 shekels per month per student

According to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, the private expenditure per student in Israeli households averaged NIS 562 per month. Expenses include payment for school and activities such as classes, private lessons and more. However, while in affluent families, the average expenditure per student was NIS 1,119 per month, among low-income families, the expenditure was only NIS 277. 

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As mentioned, the year will open so that all fifth graders and above, including middle and high schools, will learn mostly from home online. The problem is that many students are unable to learn on their own without a teacher, and the result is that well-to-do parents can empower their children through private lessons. 

Roi Naim, owner of the Naim study site, a platform that connects students and independent private teachers: "The corona has created a significant increase in demand for private lessons that cost NIS 70-150 per hour - both during the matriculation period and now in August, which is usually a relatively calm month. "Reducing gaps for the new year. In addition, there is a lot of uncertainty about the school year, and no one wants their child to be left behind." He said, "Teachers are the ones who independently set the prices of the lessons. Therefore, because the demand has gone up, the prices have not gone down and they are not expected to go down."

Staying at home and online learning will also require building a learning environment: "We are seeing an increase in demand for computers and tablets," says Liron Katz, director of the Digital Power Warehouse network. "Average prices range from NIS 500 to NIS 979 per computer. In addition, there is a significant increase "The sales of technology products back to school. Families are making a concentrated purchase of full room equipment, such as gamer chairs, which have become student chairs for everything, desks, printers, cameras and more - this is something we did not know before." He said: "There is an increase in the volume of payments in each transaction. If before the corona the average payment spread was 12, today the average has jumped to 18 payments." 

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Sharing the burden 

The corona also affected kindergarten prices. According to the CBS, in 2018 households with small children spent NIS 2,258 a month on education services, with the highest expenses being on caregivers, kindergartens and day care centers. However, following the corona, some parents were expelled or fired, preferring to take the child out of the framework. And save thousands of shekels a month.

In addition, many parents resented during the closure that private kindergarten owners continued to charge a fee - even though the kindergarten did not operate. Due to this, in recent days the Department of Civil Law in the Ministry of Justice has published an outline for adjusting the contracts in the private kindergarten industry. According to the outline, in case of inactivity of the kindergarten for a period of up to 14 days, due to closure or isolation, it can be determined that the parents will bear a cost not exceeding 30% of the tuition, and in case of inactivity of the kindergarten for 15 to 30 consecutive days. Parents will be required to participate in the amount of 10% of the tuition fee, provided that the kindergartens will be allowed to take the employees to the hospital.

Sima Aharon, owner of 'Kindergarten' in Jerusalem: "We planned to raise the price by NIS 200 per month to NIS 3,050, but due to the economic situation we froze it. This is evident in the parents when they come to see the kindergarten, they want to register the child but some have difficulty paying. "And we decided to come to them. The corona definitely shook us, and we decided it was not the time. We try to come to the parents, whoever needs also gets a discount, for example if he has two children." On the contract with the parents she says: "We ask the parents that if the kindergarten goes into isolation, there will be a relative payment, so that we have stability and we can pay the current payments like rent. I feel we are together in this and not two separate parties."