Last weekend, the Knesset's Finance Committee approved the state budget for next year, from which the youth departments in the local authorities were again absent.
At the beginning of her term, the Minister of Education, Dr. Yifat Shasha Bitton, presented her vision for the system she heads, according to which the education system must instill life skills and social skills in order to promote a good and patient society.
The implementation of the vision to make the education system a fertile ground for self-realization of the future generation requires the inclusion of non-formal education, which is provided, among other things, by the youth departments in local authorities.
In Israel, 70 percent of the youth are not members of youth movements, so they turn to the youth departments that operate in all sectors - urban, rural, Arab, Druze and Circassian.
Parents and educators today understand that the educational framework that operates outside of school hours is no less significant than that which exists in classrooms, and studies around the world point to the benefits of non-formal education.
The afternoon activities instill in the youth important values of giving and volunteering, instill in them environmental sensitivity, caring and social awareness, and most importantly - increase the youth's sense of self-worth and reduce the gaps between students.
The law stipulates that in each local authority a youth department director will be appointed, but the departments do not receive a fixed budget from the Ministry of Education or any other government ministry.
Every year there is a struggle for resources and a race for calling votes.
The heads of the youth departments operate in a fog, with no possibility of planning medium-to-long-term activities, and the current situation has meant that last summer, after the children were at home and studying mostly zoom, we were left with a broken trough.
In the absence of a fixed budget according to which the principals can act, the youth departments are subject to the considerations of the heads of the authorities, who, with all good will, cannot always refer from the authority's budgets for the care and treatment of the youth.
In other words, the legislature started the craft and did not finish it.
Personnel directors of youth departments are staffed by law in all local authorities, but in the absence of operating budgets - it is not possible to exercise the responsibility.
Beyond the fact that the current situation creates uncertainty, it also creates gaps between the youth in local authorities where resources can be allocated, and the youth in authorities that are unable to do so.
The division is not surprising: the youth in the established authorities get more activities, and this inequality must stop.
The Ministry of Education must budget the activities of the youth departments in the budget base, regularly and in a pre-determined amount.
In this way, we will be able to carry out many dozens of projects, from Metula to Eilat, in which we will provide a social solution and values for the youth.
We will help increase the proportion of youth who enlist in the army, and promote action and volunteering in the community.
Madam Minister of Education, let us be the executive arm of your blessed vision.
Let us end the work by setting the local budgets for the youth departments in the local authorities, through which we will become full partners in the blessed educational endeavor that you lead.