Education in Israel

  • The educational system in Israel is divided into four stages: pre-school, primary school, intermediate school, and secondary school. Israel has 300,000 public pre-schools providing education for children between the ages of three and six. Children are required to attend school by the age of five. For the next six years children attend one of Israel's 750,000 primary schools. There are 250,000 middle schools in Israel. Israeli children are required to attend a middle school for three years, grades 7-9. Secondary school, grades 10-12, is not required, but students are greatly encouraged to attend one of the 310,000 high schools across Israel.

  • There are various types of schools in Israel. There are state schools, state religious schools, Arab and Druze school, and private schools. The state religious schools generally focus on Jewish studies, while the Arab and Druze schools emphasize instruction in Arabic culture and religion. The private schools are associated with various religious and international supports. The majority of Israeli children attend state schools. Within the state schools there are three different types of secondary schools:
    • vocational
    • agricultural
    • general

  • Vocational schools teach the students the fundamentals in technical and engineering skills. Agricultural schools help children earn a secondary school diploma, but do not prepare them for the bagrut. The bagrut is the entrance exam to a university, and is administered by the Ministry of Education. The general type of schooling offered in Israel prepares students for the bagrut. Thirty-eight and half percent of the graduating 12th grade students from the 1998-99 school year were eligible for the bagrut matriculation certificate. The bagrut covers material from seven different subject areas, and the students must answer 60% of the questions in each subject correctly to earn the certificate. In 1999, a total of 67, 849 people attempted the exam. For those who passed the exam they may choose from among the 235 institutions of higher education to attend.



Here are some statistics on education in Israel:



Jews
Non-Jews
Total
Pupils in School
1,482,087
284,420
1,766,507
Pupils in Intermediary and Secondary Schools
411,123
92,942
504,065
Average Number of Pupils per Class
27
31
28
Students in Universities
-
-
101,430
First-Degree Students in Higher Non-University Institutions
-
-
31,616
Students Enrolled in Academic Courses of the Open University
-
-
28,478
Recipients of Degrees from Universities
-
-
21,004
Recipients of First Degrees from Non-Academic Institutions
-
-
3,950
Percentage of 15-17 Age Group Who Study and Do Not Work
-
-
80.7%
Percentage of 15-17 Age Group Who Study and Work
-
-
6.8%


The above statistics are from the European Social Welfare Information Network webpage, last updated May 12, 1999.

Childcare Children in Israel History of Orphanages Kibbutz Life Organizations Poverty

Sources:

European Social Welfare Information Network. "Israel:Education." (http://www.eswin.net/il/istats-edu.htm).

Levine, Hamutal. 2000. "The Educational System in Israel." Haretz Special for the online edition. (http://www2haaretz.co.il/special/general-e/a/291373.asp).

Wolffsohn, Micael.1987. ISRAEL: Polity, Society, Economy. New Jersey:Humanities Press International.


This website was created in the Fall of 2000 by Rachel Geller, Allison Miller, Diana Osborn, and Iris Travis, students at Tualne University. This website is part of a class project for Professor April Brayfield's Sociology 119: Children and Society Class. Learn about children in other countries at The Children Around the World webpage.

This website was created on December 8, 2000.