Teacher Shortage, Violence, and Gaps: 8 Problems Awaiting the Next Education Minister

The article presents eight major challenges facing the next education minister, who will take office after the Knesset elections on October 27. Among the problems: teacher shortage, declining achievements, violence against teaching staff, lack of oversight of Haredi education, budget discrimination, division into four systems, stagnation of teachers' unions, and the collapse of special education. The article emphasizes the social and economic cost of ongoing neglect.

The school year will open in September, but elections for the Knesset will be held on October 27, and a few weeks later a new education minister may take office. The current minister, Yoav Kisch, has stated his desire to continue for another term. The article presents eight major challenges: a shortage of teachers and educators, including recruiting teachers without teaching certificates; a decline in achievements in RAMA tests and international metrics, with widening gaps; violence against teaching staff and lack of enforcement; abandonment of oversight of Haredi education, where one in four students (25%) will study this year, and most schools do not teach core subjects; budget discrimination between sectors, with a High Court of Justice discussion; division into four separate systems perpetuating alienation; stagnation by teachers' unions, led by Yaffa Ben David and Ran Erez, blocking reforms; and the collapse of special education, with inclusion without resources. The article emphasizes the need for immediate solutions and the social and economic cost of neglect.