Amit Edri: "I snatched profanity from parents because I encouraged students to get vaccinated" Israel today

One morning, the outgoing director general of the Ministry of Education, Amit Edri, woke up and discovered that he had become the target of opponents of Corona vaccines.

He also later abused parents.

The first question that is asked of him when he shows up for a first interview on the occasion of the end of his term is whether he is for or against vaccines in schools.

"I am in favor of vaccinations in schools even during school hours, it is not that they are stored inside the classroom. I think the system has an educational-value role, including encouraging students to get vaccinated, because they are also ambassadors in their home and community, especially if they are disadvantaged.

"I myself have encouraged students to get vaccinated and snatched criticism and insults from parents and vaccine opponents. I agree with that because I think it is an educational and value role of partnership and unity. The health of students and teaching staff is paramount. Vaccines at high rates will allow the education system to operate continuously."

What do you think of the minister's things?

"I do not think it will create more social pressure, it will be there anyway. For the reason that all the students in the class know who is vaccinated and who is not according to the charge in isolation or testing."

"We found a system in the gap"

Amit Edri (52) made a relatively short term of only one year in the Ministry of Education - but under the auspices of the Corona he touched almost every area that exists in the ministry.

He now sees from the sidelines the preparations for the next school year, as well as the publications on an ambitious test outline.

One of them is the "Education Shield" program that also operated in the previous school year, which aims to sample students in orange and red cities once a week to detect morbidity.

"When we got to the point where we wanted to increase the 'Education Shield' program (a program to monitor coronary heart disease; ND) after the third closure the Ministry of Health could not stand it, it got off the ground."

Serological examination in Rishon LeZion / Photo: Gideon Markovich,

This year it will succeed?

"There are already dozens of red cities, the infrastructure is there and the question is whether there is preparation for such an amount of tests. There are about 5,000 schools in the education system, hundreds of mobility and manpower are needed to sample students, I do not know if there is enough. ".

But we have seen that 40% of parents do not cooperate.

"True, but when the parents realized that it has value and that is what will keep the school open, they agreed to sample the students. It is not sweeping, there are always parents who are not ready, even in the coming school year there will be one hundred percent response to sampling. I hope unlike last year "The schools that will be sampled will indeed remain open to physical learning, which in many cases is not possible for the Ministry of Health."

Following a requirement by the Ministry of Health to open the previous school year, elementary school students opened the year in capsules (as opposed to the current school year).

This task robbed quite a few hours of sleep from Edri, who was previously deputy chief logistics officer in the IDF and was released after 26 years of service

.

We worked on it day and night.

But at the end of the day the data showed that second graders who were in full grades and third graders who were studying in capsules - the level of adhesion in them was the same level.

We also saw this between the fourth graders who studied in small groups and the fifth graders who came some of the time. "

So the capsules were a failure?

"They were not effective in preventing infection, but they were in reducing the number of students who went into isolation, because the more you study in a smaller group the less students you isolate."

And in the end they sent everyone home.

"We fought it. Even today the education system needs to be physically open, even in the closure students need to get to schools. The difference between today and September 1 is that the population is vaccinated, and we have data and ability to stop infection chains. After the third closure we found that students, even though 50 % Of the group of the unvaccinated, only 25% were verified to the

corona. It should be understood that there was no reason to leave middle school students at home - we found that schools do not accelerate illness but curb. "Even if you have 100,000 students in the education system in isolation, it is still a total of 2.4 million students, that is, less than 5%."

Are you in favor of attending school at any cost?

"Of course, educational institutions that are not verified or have a number that is under control - there is no reason to close. Today it is possible to know in 25,000 institutions (20,000 kindergartens and another 5,000 schools) what the disease situation is at any given moment."

Edri talks about the Ministry of Education’s UAV that can give real-time information about any student, Corona sick or isolated teacher. “We got an education system in the Corona crisis, which relied on principal reports. We have established from scratch a control center that knows how to perform real-time monitoring of every millimeter in the education system. Before that there was just nothing. It allowed us to stop gluing chains in a short and effective time. "

In general, the feeling was that the Ministry of Education of the High-Tech Nation was technologically behind.

"We found a system with a significant generation gap in computerized infrastructure, entire schools without computers and ICT infrastructure. We had to make rapid technological intensification, with the goal of connecting Israeli students to study given the fact that they also learn remotely. We purchased computers, infrastructure, teacher training."

"Make a fuss about the teachers"

The corona powerfully revealed the gaps that have always been there.

When Edri is asked what education system he has found, he explains: "I found a very centralized education ministry. I dived into the archives and saw that as early as 1970 teachers turned to Legal Alon and asked him for autonomy and flexibility. A system of more than two million students, no one classroom A book that is similar to another.The difference between the citizens of the country is the difference in the education system.

"Therefore, it cannot be that everything will be the same in all sectors and authorities, in all types of education: religious, state secular, Arab. A school principal knows best the school situation. The problem is that he has no authority, but he does have responsibilities. He has no resources, flexibility, he must teach X hours to X students, everything is the same.If you taught six hours of English - you succeeded in the review.

"We do not want to test inputs, we want to test outputs, required achievements. That is why we released the GPA program (managerial pedagogical flexibility; ND). We have made a real change here, flexibility that defines a binding framework, defines what is needed, and education teams choose "The way it will be done. A manager who has no gaps - he has independence, and others will be accompanied and mentored."

And what about the teachers?

"With the outbreak of the Corona, the education system, in my opinion, also as a parent, made the fastest adjustment, and for that I was full of appreciation for the education staff. The teachers, principals, kindergarten teachers and educational counselors adapted to the situation and stood at the forefront. "They had an address - the educational staff."

But they also received a lot of criticism.

"We tried to reduce teachers' pay for distance learning, we took it off the agenda. Minister Galant stated that an hour is equal to an hour. A teacher who works remotely works more hours and harder than in class, including preparation for lessons and individual response to students. "Talking to parents day and night is one of the most complex sectors that works very hard. They are at the most critical point of our children's education, at the core."

Why not reduce the genes?

"Because it requires resources, there are 20,000 genes, I think the ministry has an opportunity to connect birth ages to 3. You have to think very deeply about pre-primary, both pedagogical and organizational. For me it was on the agenda fully. Pre-primary This is a field that has not received the appropriate focus on the importance of its part in the foundations of students before moving to school. Pedagogical, emotional and also organizational, managerial. Education and in the end they connect as a team only within the kindergarten. "

"Laying the infrastructure for the future"

He is the father of four children, is in a relationship with Siegel, a public relations woman, and lives in south Tel Aviv.

Since finishing his job he has been exploring his path and it seems that he intends to return to the business world.

What education system are you leaving behind?

"Former Education Minister Yoav Galant and I came up with a concept that not only runs Corona, but lays the groundwork for the future of the education system. We did not count the days, we did not calculate the content of the job. I did not come to cut coupons, I came to serve the country, "The most important thing in the State of Israel during the Corona crisis was that we provided flexibility to principals, computers for students and teachers, training for teaching staff, provided administrative and pedagogical infrastructure and dealt with the emotional-social field even before it was discussed anywhere."

It always seems that the students are less interested in the system.

"I connected the student council to the ministry's staff work as a statement, I had a WhatsApp group with them, without officials from the ministry. I had monthly meetings with them and we are still in touch. The student council is a significant cornerstone for me, and they are full partners in the processes.

" I would do two things: first it looks at the school's vision. And if the word 'student' did not appear, it would make me jump "; and the second thing, I would ask who is the chairman of the student leadership at the school and why he is not with us. You can't say we share the students and not see them. "