Government Ministries Approve Program for Assistance to Students in Higher Education Institutions Affected by Corona Crisis • Objective: To prevent students from dropping out of school
Students at the beginning of the school year last year
Photography:
Dudu Greenspan
Under the direction of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an economic safety net of about NIS 800 million was agreed today (Monday) for students affected by the Corona crisis.
The relevant government ministries, in collaboration with the Student Union, agreed on a program consisting of three main components of assistance: expanding the scholarship system for students, promoting youth employment and a one-time reduction in the payment of security fees to academic institutions.
The purpose of the program is to help students overcome the crisis and avoid dropping out of their academic studies.
As part of this, scholarships will be distributed on the basis of socio-economic criteria and the schedules of the scholarships will be shortened, so that those who are entitled to them will be notified as early as next January.
In addition, a dedicated system will be established in which tens of thousands of students will receive a financial aid scholarship for social activities in various areas of the community, specialization programs will be expanded and activities and programs will be promoted to promote youth employment, with an emphasis on low-participation populations.
In addition, the budgeted academic institutions have agreed to make a horizontal reduction of 50% this year in the payment of security fees paid by students to the institution.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the approval of the plan and said: "We promised to take care of our students - and we kept it. We will continue to bring more aid plans and take care of all Israeli citizens."
The Minister of Finance, Israel Katz, added that "the approval of the program constitutes a great message to the student public who are the future generation of the State of Israel.
I welcome the cooperation of the various parties in formulating this outline.
I will continue to work against the many challenges, encourage employment and lead the economy and economy to growth. "