Education Ministry Releases Poor Science Test Scores Amid PISA Fallout

Late on a recent evening, and without coordinating with the National Institute for Testing and Evaluation (Ramah), the Israeli Ministry of Education released disturbing results from its "Tnuafa" exams. The data indicated that only 3% of ninth-grade students met all the science requirements. The Ministry subsequently instructed educators not to use these figures until an ongoing professional review is completed.

This release occurred on the same evening that international PISA test results showed a significant decline in Israeli students' performance, which had already garnered extensive media coverage. Critics suggest the timing was a deliberate attempt by Education Minister Yoav Kisch to release the national data with minimal attention and accountability.

The Ministry of Education stated that it was publishing the "Tnuafa" results as instructed by the minister, but acknowledged that the presentation of the findings and Ramah's working methods are under external professional review due to "significant professional claims" raised by the Ministry regarding these processes.

The Coalition for the Rescue of State Education reacted strongly, calling the results an "emergency alarm" rather than a warning. They dismissed attempts to blame Ramah, the testing methodology, or the war, asserting that the consistent poor performance across both national and international tests points to systemic failure within the education system itself, not the measurement tools.

The coalition criticized policies such as overcrowded classrooms, teacher burnout, and underfunding of state education, arguing these have led to the academic collapse. They emphasized that the students and Ramah are not at fault, but rather the Ministry's policies, and called for a national re-prioritization of education, stating "We have no generation to waste."