Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton this week unveiled further planned reforms for Israeli schools. Since she already gave the debt directors more financial opportunities and decision-making power at the beginning of the year (the Israeli school system is extremely centralized, so that debt directors have hardly any room for flexibility), she has now planned further changes for graduation time. In particular, new learning methods and assessment systems will be introduced. Among other things, written examinations for History, Literature and Biblical Studies of class projects and multidisciplinary project approaches are to be replaced. Teachers in these subjects will select several projects for the students in tenth and eleventh grades instead. For the granting of a high school diploma, more attention should be placed on oral presentations and new formats.
For twelfth grade students, on the other hand, an external evaluation will also be added. For the Mathematics, English and Natural Sciences, everything is planned to continue as before.
“Today’s world is changing at a rapid pace and we need to adapt learning methods to it,” explained Shasha-Biton. “Our goal is to prepare students for their future, privately, professionally and academically. They should learn relevant information in a profound way so that this content stays in their heads for many years.” The Israeli Teachers’ Union, known for its bitter struggles against the Ministry of Education, stressed that there has been no agreement on these reforms so far. Their biggest fear is more work for the same salary.
