In the video: Minister of Education Yoav Kish announces the introduction of "Controversies in Israeli Society" as an annual topic in the education system.
Credit: Knesset Channel/Knesset Channel
Finally: Education Minister Yoav Kish said today (Tuesday) that the Holocaust will not be included this year as part of the compulsory subjects in the matriculation exams.
This, he clarified, was due to the time pressure created by the war, and out of a desire to make it easier for the students taking the exams.
The initial decision on the matter was already made at the end of October due to the war, after which Kish claimed that he would go back on it - and that it was made in his office without his consent.
However, he has now officially announced that it will not be possible to change the decision in the current academic year, due to the shortness of time until the designated exam date.
The minister also claimed that the decision is expected to change starting from the next school year, when the Holocaust chapter will be a mandatory chapter in the matriculation exam, and also that he ordered the schools that did not study the Holocaust subject in the current school year to hold a dedicated study on the subject in the current/next school year.
It should be noted that until 2020 the subject of the Holocaust is not included in the written matriculation exam, and will be taught as part of an alternative assessment only.
"We will continue to see the memory of the Holocaust as a cornerstone."
Minister of Education Kish/Paul, here 11
"The Holocaust is one of the cornerstones of our existence as a people and as a nation, in these days when we are dealing with an existential war that was forced upon us after the terrible disaster that befell us on October 7th, we must remember even more strongly the horrors that our brothers experienced and promise that never again," Mikish said near the decision.
"Studies of the Holocaust as part of matriculation are significant and have irreplaceable added value. The Ministry of Education under my leadership will continue to see the memory of the Holocaust as a cornerstone and in the process will continue to work to perpetuate the memory of the Holocaust in all the ways available to us both in the matriculation exams and in actions and activities on the subject."
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