The school year will begin on September 1, Education Minister Yoav Gallant insisted on Monday during a meeting at the Knesset. “Whoever says differently causes panic,” he said. Similarly, Education Ministry director-general Amit Edry said that his ministry is working together with the local authorities “with full vigor and intensity, so that the gates of the educational institutions will open Sept. 1.”Gallant presented the framework on Monday for which students will return to school in three weeks in the shadow of coronavirus.The plan was formulated by the Education Ministry, in collaboration with the Finance Ministry and is meant to allow parents to return to work after summer break and keep the economy moving. “The education system will open … to ensure the stability of the Israeli economy,” Gallant confirmed, stressing that the framework relies on two important principles: continuity and flexibility. He added that, “Not everything in this plan is perfect, but we are giving you 100% of our best efforts.” Children will go to school in-person and/or learn from home depending on their age. Students in preschool through third grade will have a full, six-day school week and will operate without restrictions. Grades 1 and 2 will learn almost as usual, five days per week and with their normal classroom sizes. Third and fourth graders will also study five days per week, but in groups of 18 or fewer students and with each student sitting at a separate table. In contrast, fifth and sixth-grade students will learn partially from school and partially via remote learning. Students can be expected in their classrooms twice a week, in capsules of 18 or fewer students. The other three days they will be at home.Special education students, at-risk youth and integration children will study as a matter of routine, even when educational institutions are closed. There will be training of education teams to work with special populations under these circumstances.
According to the framework, students in preschool through grade 2 and all special education students will not be required to wear masks. Students in grades 3 will wear them during recess and only children in grades 4 and above will be required to wear masks all the time. All students will be obligated to bring in a signed health form each day. The capsule system will require additional teachers to be hired and hence the Education Ministry is looking to recruit more staff. According to Gallant, another 13,000 positions are still to be filled – 6,500 teachers and another 6,500 educational aides, who are meant to be recruited by the local authorities. The cost of making this all happen, according to the Education Ministry, is NIS 4.2 billion, which the Knesset is slated to approve on Monday. The government approved the funds last week. Moreover, in order to ensure that students who do not have proper technology can manage distance learning, the Education Ministry hopes to provide computers to some 144,000 students and smartphones to 64,000. The goal is to have these devices purchased and delivered to at least 50% of students by the end of January 2021.Recall, Gallant and Edry boycotted the previous Knesset session on the subject. Gallant’s remarks come against the backdrop of statements made late Sunday by coronavirus commissioner Prof. Ronni Gamzu in an interview with KAN News. He said that the Health Ministry was considering pushing off the start of the school year for children in grades 4 and above.Gamzu said that his professional consultants are weighing in on the matter.Likewise, on Monday morning, Health Ministry director-general Chezy Levy told Ynet that while there is a framework as presented by Gallant at the Knesset, “there is no decision yet. We hope we can open preschools and grades one through three.”
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