Uncertainty continues in the education system • Out of 2.2 million students, about 616,000 remain at home • "A farce led by the Ministry of Health"
An empty classroom during the Corona period
Photography:
Gideon Markovich
Confused?
They too.
Another day of uncertainty in the education system begins this morning (Monday) - with on the one hand strong calls from the Ministry of Health to close the education system on the grounds that it is a source of illness, and on the other the position of the Ministry of Education, led by Minister Yoav Galant.
Classes are still held according to the traffic light program - classes in kindergartens, grades 1-4, after-school programs and special education are held in all localities - even if it is a red-orange city.
On the other hand, studies in the fifth-twelfth grades take place only in green and yellow localities, and in other places - remotely. About 616,000 students in the education system (out of 2.2 million) do not go to educational institutions.
The list of orange and red localities includes dozens of cities, including large ones such as Jerusalem, Ashdod, Haifa and Holon, along with smaller localities such as Arad, Tiberias, Yavne and Kfar Qassem.
This means that hundreds of thousands of students (fifth graders and up) stay in their homes and return to ineffective distance learning.
The classification of the red and orange cities will be valid until the end of the week (January 9), and in the middle of the week a new traffic light should be set that will affect next week.
Alternatively, there will be a closure of the entire education system.
Another option is to return to the Cabinet decision to close the 5th-10th strata in all cities.
Education Minister Galant commented in a post he posted yesterday, in which he wrote: "I call on my colleagues in the government to unite behind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and immediately approve the outline for operating the education system during the closure period, as approved by the government and rejected by the Knesset Education Committee. In maintaining the health of the students and the teaching staff, along with an appropriate educational response. "
Daniela Shumil is a fifth-grade student at the Hofim School in Modi'in, which is considered an orange city and therefore has not been studied there for a week.
Yesterday when we spoke to her she still had hopes of going back to school when the color of the city changed, but the talk of a general closure pushes the dream away.
"Talking about closing all the schools makes me feel sad," she shared, "It's not pleasant to sit at home for so long. I love and am used to going out and being active. I had hopes of going back to school, but it doesn't seem to be happening any time soon."
Abuse in the system
Yesterday, the National Student and Youth Council came out against the intention to close the education system, claiming that this is not the first time the Ministry of Health has set arbitrary goals and uses absurd measures: "In all the chaos the State of Israel has experienced, "Outline after outline and back again, God forbid. Now the Ministry of Health is working to lock us students back in the homes just a moment before the winter matriculation."
According to them, they preferred flights and shopping over education: "A farce has developed here under the leadership of the Ministry of Health, and the youth have become a scapegoat of the system and we will not shut up and bow to the situation. To the age of 60, which is taught by dozens of students every day. "