The Education, Culture and Sports Committee of the Knesset chaired by Acting Chairman MK Alon Tal, and with the participation of Education Minister Yifat Shasha Biton, met today (Tuesday). At the end of the discussions, the committee approved the maximum amount for the PA's payments to the parents of the students in the 2017 school year.
MK Alon Tal: "We have reached a proper balance in light of the circumstances.
We would like to see a greater reduction in the parents' payments, but the direction is right now."
The main changes from the previous year concern the maximum payment for the culture basket, which was reduced by NIS 12 per student.
In addition, the payment for class parties in kindergartens and grades 1-12 was canceled. The Ministry of Education will transfer 8 shekels per student to the educational institutions for the purpose of financing this service. There was no change in the rates for the rest of the authority's payments compared to the 2015 school year.
"The direction is right."
MM Chairman of the committee MK Alon Tal at the committee's hearing// Photo: Dani Shem Tov, Knesset spokeswoman,
the numbers
Below are the maximum approved PA payments per student according to the age groups: Kindergartens - 253 NIS;
Grades 1-2 - NIS 540;
Grades 3-4 – NIS 565;
5th graders - NIS 691;
6th graders - NIS 901;
Grades 7-8 - NIS 1026;
8th grades (in 1st-8th schools) – NIS 1,151;
9th grades (in six-year schools) – NIS 1,042;
9th grade (independent high school) – NIS 1,167; 10th-11th grade – NIS 1,219;
12th grade - NIS 1,372. The amounts include a culture basket, graduation parties (kindergarten, 6th, 9th, 12th grades), loan of textbooks for the 2016 2018 2018 school year, parent leadership, and Yishobi Parents' Committee, trips, 2018 (in grades 7-11).
Director General of the Ministry of Education Dalit Strauber: "As we promised, there is no increase in the PA's payment rates.
The efforts of the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Education bore fruit, each brought an amount from his office that totaled 50 million shekels, I would emphasize that this is not a drop in the level.
"As for personal accident insurance for the student, the tender ended yesterday with a winner, who pledged to increase the insurance coverage. We aim to reduce the participation of parents in the field of trips, which constitutes a high budgetary cost out of the total payments, and the issue will come up in the state budget discussions later."
"The weak deserve more."
Director General of the Ministry of Education Dalit Strauber at the committee hearing, photo: Dani Shem Tov, spokeswoman for the Knesset
Strauber also added and said that "We are seeing an increase in the reporting of the schools in the Afik payment system. Currently in the general society there is more than 95% collection. In the ultra-Orthodox society there is more than 50 percent reporting. The ultra-orthodox district has a new manager and the control and enforcement department will take care That the resources go to the children and not to other needs."
Stauber also referred to the provision of scholarships to needy students: "Our policy is differential, the weak deserve more. Believing that the principal and the educational staff know the families better than anyone, the money for the scholarships will be found, starting this year, by the principal of the school. Our policy is that there is no child whose family It does not mean that it will harm the activities. The amount of the scholarships was used in full last year. In the coming year, the amount of the scholarships will be 180 million shekels."
"The children depend on the grace of scholarships"
The chairman mentioned that in the past there was an agreement between the committee and the Ministry of Education according to which the parents' payments would eventually be reduced.
The representative of the Ministry of Education, Ina Salzman, informed that every month and a half, a dialogue is held in a joint committee for the Ministry of Education and the leadership of the parents, "and beautiful products emerge there", according to her.
MK Simon Davidson asked to increase the amount of scholarships given to students from disadvantaged backgrounds: "There are children in the country who cannot pay for the trips and those who stay at home are left with lifelong trauma." MK Emily Moati: "Why should children depend on the grace of scholarships and not on subsidies Is it given automatically? We found out that only 20% of eligible families apply for a scholarship. This leaves surpluses in the scholarship system every year."
"Discussions with the parent leadership produce beautiful results."
The Education Committee of the Knesset,
MK Moshe Tor Paz: "Differential distribution is needed between those who have and those who do not."
The leader of the struggle for free education Peachy Dubiner said that "there is nothing more important than the demand to exempt welfare children."
An economist from the Knesset's Research and Information Center, Netta Moshe, presented data on the subject: "In Israel there is no real data on the actual collection of parental payments. In 2019, the total parental payments paid by households was estimated at approximately NIS 4.63 billion, according to data processing Central Bureau of Statistics.
Inequality is perpetuated
"Taking into account the growth rate of households in the population, the total economic cost for 2022 is estimated at approximately NIS 4.94 billion.
Among all the activities for which the PA's payments are paid, the highest cost is for trips, and is estimated at 613 million NIS in the 2015 school year, followed by the cultural basket with a total cost of 283 million NIS, Moshe pointed out.
The ombudsman of the Council for Child Safety, attorney Liron Eshel added: "Let there be no doubt, parents' payments not only do not encourage these values, they also perpetuate gaps and inequality and even lead to discrimination and friction within the school. I am talking about examples that reach us Every year, cases that make our stomachs tighten, every year students are taken off the buses, every year lists are posted publicly of children whose parents have not paid, every year students are found from the classrooms to come settle the payments."
The Knesset's Education Committee at a discussion on preparation for the 2018 2018 TPFG, Photo: Dani Shem Tov, Knesset Spokesperson
During the debate, the chairman of the Burning Youth party, Hadar Mokhtar, was removed from the hall after she complained that "the two billion NIS we pay to the education system is not free education. There are MKs here who spent 2.7 billion NIS on elections. You can take the This is for parental payments and you will still make a profit.
"I came early to the debate, I grabbed a chair and they moved me. Why are the members of the Knesset more important than me? I pay your salary."
After Mokhtar's outburst, some members of the Knesset called her "impudent".
MK Tal's statement: "Insulting elected officials is unacceptable.
It's good for your Facebook, but please - leave the room."
The proposal was approved by a majority of six supporters (Yossi Shein, Alon Tal, Benny Begin, Ali Salalha, Moshe Tor Paz, Simon Davidson) against two opponents (Ofer Kassif and Iman Khatib Yassin).
Teachers' salary agreement
The representative of the Ministry of Finance, Shmuel Appelbaum, commented at the Education Committee's discussion of the salary agreement with the teachers: "We are determined to reach an agreement as soon as possible, but we are not optimistic. We are not able to make significant progress, as we wanted. Even in recognition of the damage that the strike may cause, we will not give up principles are important in the teachers' employment structure."
"The Treasury will not manage education."
Minister of Education Shasha Biton in the committee, photo: Dani Shem Tov, Knesset spokeswoman
Education Minister Yifat Shasha Biton: "The policy of the Ministry of Education will be determined only by the Ministry of Education. Does the Treasury think that it will manage education through the government? This will not happen. We cannot expect a beginning teacher to have no horizons and for him to remain in the system. Offer a veteran teacher an additional NIS 300 to the gross It mocked Resh.
You won't convince me otherwise.
At the beginning of the journey, the Treasury said that it will not end until September 1st.
There is a chronicle here that you are used to pulling to the end.
The Minister of Finance is participating with me in the discussions."
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