Gender segregation in Israeli schools a social 'disaster'
In an interview with Al-Monitor, former education minister, professor Amnon Rubinstein, criticizes both government and opposition for neglecting the issue of higher education accessibility as a tool to narrow social gaps.
![Ultra Orthodox students attend a religious studies class at Kehilot Yaacov Torah School for boys in Ramot Ultra Orthodox students attend a religious studies class at Kehilot Yaacov Torah School for boys in Ramot, Jerusalem June 24, 2010. Israel's ultra-Orthodox minority has long been at odds with the Jewish state's highest judicial authority over edicts which some devout Jews say interfere with their religious lifestyle. Ultra-Orthodox Jews protested in Israel last week against a court order to desegregate a religious school and force Jewish girls of European and Middle Eastern descent to study together. REUTER](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2014/06/RTR2FN4P.jpg/RTR2FN4P.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=frwBIwKv)
Professor Amnon Rubinstein, a former minister of education and recipient of the Israel Prize for Law, told Al-Monitor:
"I find it very strange that providing the weaker sectors of the society access to higher education as a way of reducing gaps rarely ever comes up for discussion in the Knesset. It really bothers me. Why is it that the child of a wealthy lawyer or doctor, who was accepted to university due to his high grades, because he attended the best schools, had private tutors and was sent to learn English in a 'summer school' — can study in a subsidized institute, while an Ethiopian student, whose grades are low because he doesn’t come from a well-to-do background, is unable to attend the same university and ineligible for financial support? I haven’t been able to get an answer to this question from either the Ministry of Education or the Finance Ministry because there is no answer that would explain this disparity."