The new school year faces two major challenges. The first is Israel’s efforts over the years to introduce universal subject matter into the ultra-Orthodox educational system, but to no avail. The second is Israel’s insistent declarations that it is striving to bridge the deepening gap between students in the center of the country and students on the periphery.
According to data published by the Ministry of Education on Sept. 2, schools in more affluent towns and villages were found to produce more students eligible to receive a matriculation certificate than schools on the periphery. Based on this division, Arab settlements are ranked at the bottom of the list of educational achievements, except in the rarest of incidents.