Israel's Education System Faces Crisis Amid Declining PISA Scores and Haredi Enrollment Surge

Israel's education system is facing a significant crisis, marked by a sharp decline in international PISA test scores and a growing enrollment of Haredi students in primary grades, many of whom do not study core subjects. The latest PISA 2025 results show Israel's lowest scores since participation began, with significant drops in reading, math, and science. These results place Israel in the bottom quartile among OECD countries, with the decline described as the steepest among participating nations.

Economist Prof. Dan Ben-David warns that "half of Israel's children are already receiving a third-world education." The article highlights that a substantial portion of Haredi boys in secondary schools do not study core subjects, and most cease such studies by ninth grade. Despite this, the current coalition government is allocating billions of shekels to the Haredi education sector, with a significant portion of these funds directed to institutions that do not teach core subjects.

Concerns are also raised about the Ministry of Education's handling of the PISA results. Reports indicate that Minister of Education Yoav Kisch allegedly attempted to obscure or distort data, including ordering the withholding of certain results and demanding the alteration of official statements. The Attorney General has also intervened, ordering the publication of delayed test results and seeking to condition full funding for Haredi education networks on the teaching of core subjects and participation in assessments.

The article further details that while the Haredi population constitutes about a fifth of first graders, their share is projected to rise to nearly a third by 2060. The lack of core subject instruction in many Haredi institutions, coupled with weak oversight and enforcement of existing regulations, is seen as a major contributing factor to the declining national educational standards. The potential long-term economic consequences are dire, with projections of a significant loss in per capita GDP if current trends continue.

In parallel, the Ministry of Education is increasing hours dedicated to Jewish identity subjects in the state-secular system, sometimes at the expense of core subjects like geography. The article also notes the significant presence of external organizations, some with extremist agendas, operating within schools, raising further concerns about the direction of education.