One of the important chapters in the Bank of Israel's report for 2021 discusses the issue of education - the decline in the status of the teaching profession and its quality, as well as the gaps between the non-Haredi Jewish population and the Arab population.
"Currently, the salaries of teachers in Israel, especially beginner teachers, are low in international comparison, and their level, according to international proficiency tests in mathematical literacy and reading, is low," the Bank of Israel report said.
Yaffa Ben David, Photo: Arik Sultan
The Bank of Israel has a recommendation, on which the secretary general of the Teachers 'Union, Yaffa Ben-David, would probably have signed immediately - to raise teachers' salaries in Israel.
"It is possible that raising the salaries of teachers, especially beginners, will strengthen the status of teachers and attract higher-skilled workers to the teaching field. The effect of this increase on teachers in Arab society is likely to be stronger than on teachers in Jewish society. Therefore, it may reduce gaps between the groups, "the report said.
The position of the Bank of Israel requires such an increase in order to stop the deterioration that has taken place in recent years in the status and quality of the teaching profession, especially in Arab society.
The decline in teachers' cognitive skills and the erosion in their status have characterized many countries in recent decades, the Bank of Israel explains.
Does teachers' salaries affect their quality?
The background to the phenomenon is an improvement in employment alternatives for women in the labor market.
The "New Horizons" and "Oz LaTmura" educational reforms, implemented at the beginning of the previous decade, have indeed raised teachers' global salaries, but their hourly wages have remained stable.
Next, the Bank of Israel describes the gaps between the Jewish and Arabic education systems in terms of the quality of teaching and the state's budgetary investment, and concludes that the achievements of Hebrew-speaking students are significantly higher than those of Arabic-speakers, but the gaps narrow when considering the socio-economic background.
The Bank of Israel states that budget items unique to Jewish society are those that contribute to the gaps between the two populations.
The volume of teaching hours and salary payments to teaching staff in Hebrew-speaking schools is considerably higher than in the Arab education system, at any socio-economic level, despite the reduction of gaps in recent years.
There are also more encouraging conclusions.
The Bank of Israel found that the quality of teachers in the Arab sector is higher than in the Jewish sector - something that manages to at least partially compensate for gaps between the allocation of resources between the education systems of the two populations.
One of the indicators for the quality of teaching is the matriculation exams of teachers at the end of their high school years, and in Arabic-speaking schools this index is higher than that of Hebrew-speakers at any socio-economic level.
Thus, for example, according to the Bank of Israel, the matriculation examinations of Arabic-speaking teachers in mathematics are significantly higher than those of their Hebrew-speaking counterparts.
The Bank of Israel explains that the gaps between the populations in the quality of the teachers are due to the high status that the teaching profession enjoys in the Arab choice, which stems, among other things, from the low employment alternatives for this population.
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