Intensive Care for Education | Ephraim Ganor

Ephraim Ganor warns that Israel's education system is at an unprecedented low, with a severe teacher shortage. He notes that Israel's PISA scores are below average and gaps between population groups are large. He proposes steps such as raising starting teachers' salaries, reducing class sizes, and strengthening the teacher's status.

In less than a month, on September 1st, about 2.6 million students and 210,000 teaching staff are expected to start the school year. Ephraim Ganor, in an opinion column in Maariv, argues that Israel's education system is at an unprecedented low, with the main problem being a severe teacher shortage. He notes that the system's ailments have been known for a decade but are worsening over time, mainly due to budget cuts. Ganor emphasizes that in OECD PISA tests, Israel is below average, and in some subjects ranks low, and that about 25 years ago achievements were much better, but since then the situation has deteriorated, especially in math and science, despite a rise in teacher salaries over the past twenty years. He points to large gaps between population groups, favoring students from high socio-economic areas and disadvantaging the periphery and the Arab sector, gaps larger than in most OECD countries. However, he notes impressive achievements in higher education, research, and high-tech. Ganor asks what can be done to heal the system, especially after six years in which COVID and the war caused severe damage. He proposes steps such as raising starting teachers' salaries, grants for veteran teachers, reducing class sizes, strengthening the teacher's status, rewarding teachers in high-demand subjects, and benefits for teachers in the periphery. He concludes that these steps can create significant positive change.