Need a translation? The program to strengthen English learning has not been implemented Israel today

This is how the Prime Minister's plan for learning English came to fruition: According to exclusive data published at the request of "Israel Today", the plan that Naftali Bennett implemented when he served as Minister of Education has almost nothing left, and that current Minister Yifat Shasha Bitton is promoting another program.

Four years ago, as Minister of Education, Bennett published the "Give Five" program in English to strengthen language learning.

But most have not been or have been very partially implemented at all.

PM Bennett, Photo: Noam Rivkin Fenton

The main goal of the program was the bee language.

It was promised that in the tenth grade there would be a new course in spoken English (30 hours).

The data show that this was done in a small number of schools - in 1997, which did not begin in the year of Corona, the program operated in only 580 schools, ie in 30% of the schools.

Another promise was that seventh-graders would be added to a weekly class devoted to English Deborah, but the Ministry of Education allocated only 900 standard hours, and only 327 of the 2,200 schools with seventh-graders, about 15 percent, received the overtime.

Lack of quality teachers

A goal was also set to increase the proportion of students tested in 4 and 5 units in English to about 70% of all high school students.

However, according to recently published matriculation eligibility data (2004/05), the goal was not fully achieved - the rate of approaching 4 units was 22.3% and the rate of those taking the 5 units - 41.5%.

Another promise that has not been fully realized is the recruitment of 1,000 professional English teachers from Israel and abroad, with so far only 67 immigrant teachers actually teaching. The Ministry of Education says that "there is no national shortage of English teachers,"

The State Comptroller's report on the problem of the shortage of quality teachers (who studied the field of knowledge) in English about two years ago stated that about 40% of the 13,300 teachers who teach English do not have appropriate training.

Alon Putterman, CEO of TLMA (National Program for English Excellence): "The launch of the English language reform began at the end of Bennett's tenure as Minister of Education - and it was not fully implemented everywhere. Corona played a key role in this, and now has the opportunity "There is no opposition to the idea in the Ministry of Education."

The Ministry of Education claimed that "the program to promote English has been pre-defined for a period of five years (2021-2016) and that it has ended."

The claim is incorrect, and in any case five years have not passed since its inception.

They also claimed that "the two main goals that formed the basis of the program were achieved. According to the first goal, the rate of access to 4 and 5 study units in 2020 was 67.3%, and the goal for this year in the program was 68%. Later, we will publish the final figure. In line with the second objective, strengthening bee English, it should be noted that it is now an integral part of the national curriculum and in terms of oral electronic matriculation. When this is completed, the ministry will publish its details in an orderly manner. "

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