Sarah Grigajek, who heads the Lodimya learning center in Ariel, says Israel’s education system is missing many students who are not formally dropping out but are effectively slipping away from school. In an interview with Channel 7, she said the problem affects both strong students who choose a different life path and pupils struggling academically or behaviorally.
Grigajek described one student who left a religious high school for a farm out of a sense of mission, then tried to return to take matriculation prep and exams, only to be told, “You cannot be here, you are not one of us, you are a dropout.” She contrasted him with another student who arrived at the farm after repeated failures and clashes with the education system, sometimes compounded by basic reading and math difficulties. In her view, both are part of the same phenomenon of hidden dropout.
She said hidden dropout can include students absent from school for long periods, as well as those with major academic, emotional, or behavioral gaps compared with their class. Grigajek estimated the scale could reach about 20 percent of students, and said school attendance officers believe it involves more than 100,000 pupils. She stressed that there is no reliable tool to measure the scope, saying, “It is critical to know how many there are, it is critical to know what the challenges are so we can provide the possible responses.”
At Lodimya, she said, each student receives a personal plan based on need. Some need remedial teaching, reading support, and help rebuilding confidence, while others get assistance preparing for exams in coordination with schools. Grigajek said the center serves students from across society, including rich and poor, religious and secular, boys and girls, and that “one in five students does not succeed in class.” She also said more religious-Zionist teens are choosing farms in recent years, but insisted they must still be tracked and supported by the wider system, with “a watchful eye” and “a hand on the pulse,” so they have additional adults guiding them. She added that when students see how lessons connect to daily life, their motivation often returns, because the goal is to give them tools, confidence, and belonging.
