For years, the authorities have waved about the percentage of those eligible for matriculation from among those studying in their territory.
We all know the filtering games used to increase the eligibility rate.
Everyone remembers the high school in Beit Jan that jumped to the top of the table with about 100% eligibility for matriculation for years, an achievement that sent the principal, Ali Salalha, to the Israeli Knesset.
Eligibility for matriculation increased and reached a national average of 73% in the 2015 academic year. But what good is a matriculation certificate with a number of study units and low averages, which enable eligibility but are far from opening doors to academia? The updated goal is an excellent matriculation certificate.
To receive an excellent matriculation certificate, an average of more than 90 is needed, with at least four units in mathematics and five in English.
How many of the Israeli students are entitled to such a certificate?
A little more than a tenth.
10.8% of the high school graduates received such a certificate in 2015. The data on the outstanding matriculation certificate reveal the depth of the gaps between the geographic and economic center and the peripheries.
Segmenting by authorities, we can find localities such as Shoham, Ramat Hasharon, Ra'anana, Givatayim and Givat Shmuel, where about 25% of high school graduates are entitled to an outstanding matriculation certificate.
At the bottom, with less than 3% eligibility for an excellent matriculation certificate, you can meet Ofakim, Rahat, Kiryat Gat, Kassifa, Emanuel and more.
Sderot, my beloved city, demonstrates the gap.
On the one hand, a jump to the top of the eligibility table for matriculation in the Negev with more than 90% eligibility.
On the other hand, shuffling at the bottom of matriculation eligibility is outstanding with 2.3%, which is also an improvement compared to previous years.
This is not a problem of the children of the suburbs.
This is a serious problem for all of Israeli society.
If we do not want to condemn the children of the periphery to a life of poverty and want to allow our best talents and leaders to come from every potential place and community, a change must be made.
For this we must specify the goal and the relevant index.
So what is the way to reduce these gaps, which are a record in the Western world?
Significant incentives for teachers and administrators in the periphery.
Reducing investment gaps between authorities through deep differential budgeting.
Improving math and English studies in the suburbs.
Cancellation of professional education courses without a high-quality matriculation certificate.
Investment in locating and creating frameworks for the gifted and outstanding.
And above all, a precise government target that sets its eyes on a revolution in eligibility for an outstanding matriculation certificate.
This is the way to a good future for the children of the suburbs and for Israeli society as a whole.
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