The shortage of computers will last until winter • The Ministry of Education is in a race to reduce the gaps in manpower • Local councils are looking for buildings for the many classrooms • And the economic crisis that could leave many students without breakfast • Week to open the school year - and many tasks
In many kindergartens parents do not know who the kindergarten teacher will be
Photo:
Ami fat
Test year with partial solutions: In exactly one week it will happen, the school year will open on September 1 - and not as a series.
Although the outlines have reached the field, there is a big gap between their application and reality. Big problems like lack of computers and recruitment of personnel mix with smaller problems. Equally important, however, are the problems of students with learning disabilities or students without a ten-course meal.
The lack of end measures
One of the most significant issues this year is distance learning, which will take place most of the time among fifth graders and up, and the problem is - of course - that many students do not have a computer or Internet connection at home. The Ministry of Education has announced that it will purchase about 15,000 laptops and 64,000 mobile phones for the ultra-Orthodox sector - for students with disabilities. However, the tender for the purchase of the computers was delayed until it came out a few days ago, and learning will begin in a week. Therefore, about 50 percent of the computers will be purchased by January 2021. In this situation, a significant proportion of students will not have the opportunity for effective distance learning.
In some cases, those who get into the shoes of the Ministry of Education are the local authorities and associations. Thus, for example, the Ruach Tova organization from the Arison Group initiated "Mobile in the Community", which calls on residents around the country to donate computers and tablets for the benefit of those who need them.
The volunteers in the project collect the computer, test it, install software on it and finally transfer the computer to those who need it in the locality. To date, 500 computers and tablets have been donated.
Recruitment
At the same time, learning in third-fourth grades will take place in capsules of up to 18 students per class. The task requires the recruitment of about 13,000 teaching staff, teachers and additional assistants that are required in view of the doubling of classrooms. In fact, what will be done is to expand the scope of the 6,500 teaching assistants and 6,500 teaching staff already in the system.
The Ministry of Education has promised that the recruitment process will be completed before the start of the school year - but that the principals have a lot of work to do. Rapid recruitment of teachers into the education system may also bring in less desirable factors, such as teaching staff suspected or convicted of sexual offenses, pedophilia, violence and drugs. The Ministry of Education's Security Division has a very short time to check the criminal record of thousands of new employees entering the education system.
The issue of the application of the outlines
Many students and parents report that they have not yet received a system of hours or critical information regarding the school year. For example, parents do not know who their son's teacher will be, students do not know when the first day they will be in school as part of the frontal studies, and some students do not know how many days they will study remotely and how many days they will study in classrooms.
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Another critical issue is that the authorities are still trying to locate alternative structures to house the fifth- and sixth-graders who had to give up their grades for third-fourth graders who would study in small groups. The Ministry of Education says they trust school principals to pass the hours system before the start of the school year. However, it is clear to everyone that the first weeks of the school year, at least until the Tishrei holidays, will be one of trial and error.
Students with disabilities
One of the most painful issues in the education system is students with disabilities - such as difficulty seeing or hearing - who will be affected by distance learning. "I have a hearing impairment and my class has a speaker system with a Madonna that helps me hear the lesson more clearly," says Yahel Lachmanovich, who is in the ninth grade.
Lachmanowitz notes: "I lose the ability to get help from a classmate if I missed something. I make an effort and do all the homework and assignments, but there are hearing-impaired students who have difficulty and are ashamed to talk about it. It is important to me that they find a solution."
He said, "Distance learning is difficult even for children who find it difficult to see. When sharing documents in zoom they are much smaller than on the board and it is difficult for those who see less well, all students need to be addressed."
Also, the ALU, the National Association for Children and Adults with Autism, argues that the Ministry of Education places a higher number of children in the education of children than the standard and that this means less attention and resources for students who need close supervision throughout the day.
Students without food
The deepening economic crisis following the Corona virus is not missing out on students, and the fear is that many of them will reach schools without breakfast. Those who provide an answer to this are, among others, the Nabat organization, which provides about 9,000 sandwiches to children every day in about 170 schools across the country.
Now, however, the problem has grown because some students do not come to school but learn from home - and there is a fear that they will remain hungry. Therefore, as they did during the closure period - students who will learn from home will be equipped with breakfast baskets for two weeks that will be delivered to them and include, for example, cereals, breads, canned tuna, spreads and halva.
"We have made extensive adjustments and logistical changes to continue to support, and it seems that in the coming year more children will need our help, due to the financial situation that many of the parents found themselves in," says Nabat CEO Rotem Yosef Giladi. It will worsen due to the educational gaps that will be created. "The
cost of a sandwich per day is three shekels and feeding a child for an entire school year is 540 shekels, and the organization wants to donate through a circle for good - www.Nevet.org
or by phone 09-7909212.
The solution in the afternoons is close
Meanwhile, as published yesterday on the "Israel Today" website, at least one of the main problems, the afternoons, a solution is expected. The Ministry of Health is expected to soon approve the mixing of students from different classes in daycare - which will allow them to be opened in all kindergartens and schools. The outline on the subject is expected to be published in the coming days.
Remember, according to the guidelines of the Ministry of Health, children from different classes should not be mixed and it is not possible to unite kindergartens or classes.
This means that in a particular class there may not be the number of children needed to open a daycare center, as operators are willing to open a framework for only 15 or more children. Thus, for example, parents in Rosh HaAyin say that they are in uncertainty about lunch, and do not know if their children will have an afternoon setting.
Shai, a resident of the city and the father of a 3-year-old boy who will start a municipal kindergarten, says: "The situation is very frustrating because you are in complete uncertainty. The municipality and the company that runs the daycare centers have no answers, everyone is waiting for new guidelines Required. "