The fateful week of the education system
: The Corona Cabinet will convene this afternoon for a crucial discussion on the education system.
This is a concluding discussion in which a decision will be made.
Despite the countless statements that the school year will open as a series and on time, the decision on how to open and which of the students will open the school year in the classrooms - will be made only at the last minute.
At the request of the Minister of Education, Yifat Shasha Bitton, experts, professionals and representatives of teachers 'and parents' organizations will participate in the discussion, in order to thoroughly discuss the issues on the agenda and the various outlines proposed.
The decision made at the hearing will be binding on all members of the government.
At the Corona cabinet table will sit many factors - each of which will pull in a different direction on the most crucial issue of all, the opening of the school year.
On the one hand, the Minister of Education and the parents who demand the opening of the school year on time.
On the other hand, there will be proposals from ministers to postpone the school year, at least in some age groups in light of the serious illness.
One of the proposals that has already come up is to return only the post-primary students first, and wait with the kindergarten and elementary students until after Rosh Hashanah or until October 1st.
"We do not know of such a thing, no one has talked to us about it and it has never come up on the table as an option," an Education Ministry official said.
"We have no promise at the moment. We can not say that we will open the school year on September 1 for sure. But with the current situation and the reports of the decline in morbidity, we are optimistic. Something dramatic must happen so that the school year does not open."
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said last night that "our goal is to prevent a rerun of the 200 days of quarantine (a negative world record) and the zooms that were in the past year. I have four children in schools and I saw them fade in front of the zooms. We must live and study alongside the corona."
Prime Minister and Minister of Education // Photo: Oren Ben Hakon,
Regarding the back-to-school program, the prime minister added that "post-primary students will be vaccinated and study as usual from September 1."
Today we will announce the opening date of the school year in elementary schools and kindergartens. "
Education Minister Yifat Shasha Bitton said that "at the meeting I will present the importance of opening the school year on September 1 for all ages from kindergarten to 12, for the sake of the stability and certainty of students, teachers and parents - as I said all along." Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, as he has said in the past, is to open the school year on September 1. The Minister supports vaccination in educational institutions, as is already the case in ultra-Orthodox education.
Low immunization rate
As you may recall, the most significant decision ever made is that in red cities, eighth- and twelfth-grade students will learn from home in Zum, if less than 70% of the stratum students are vaccinated. That is, only if more than 70% of the stratum students are vaccinated. Frontal studies. The immunization threshold will include vaccinated, recovering students with a positive serological test result (antibodies). The decision casts a shadow on studies among hundreds of thousands of students, since according to the Ministry of Health, about 50 cities are red, another 50 red localities and 35 quarters Adumim, including large localities such as Petah Tikva and Rishon Lezion. At the same time, the rate of vaccinations among students aged 18-12 is low. According to the Ministry of Education, it stands at only 23% (excluding students who fell ill and recovered from Corona).
According to the Ministry of Health, about 100,000 students are ill or in isolation (24,000 active patients and another 76,000 students in isolation), which affects many families who will not be able to start the school year.
Meanwhile, efforts are underway to implement the Ministry of Education's outline of tests.
Last Friday, 1.7 million rapid antigen tests landed at Ben Gurion Airport, with the goal of the parents sampling the children (aged 16-3) at home the day before returning to school - in the hope that a sick child will not come to kindergarten or school.
Vaccines in schools // Photo: Dudu Greenspan,
This is a joint operation for the IDF, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education, with the goal that the tests will reach the schools by the end of next week. They are sent to the schools according to lists and quantities you will receive from the Ministry of Education. This is a procedure similar to the procedure in which high school students' matriculation exams are distributed. Kindergartens (6-3).
"Shortage of manpower"
Meanwhile, another crisis concerning the opening of the school year is among the frameworks for infants and toddlers from birth to 3. These are both subsidized supervised frameworks operated by WIZO, Naamat, etc., and private kindergartens and nurseries that do not yet know how to open the school year.
Today, the organizations that operate the day care centers - including Naamat, WIZO, Emuna, the Community Centers Association and Herut Women - are expected to hold a press conference, where they will announce the steps they intend to take.
According to them, there is a severe shortage of caregivers, and no government official is negotiating with them.
Meanwhile, following a request from MK Michal Waldiger (National Union), two psychologists will participate tomorrow (Sunday) in the cabinet meeting on the Corona ahead of the start of the school year. The corona epidemic is a quiet mental epidemic;
Urgently attach mental health professionals to the Corona Cabinet. "
