Religious-State School Students Receive Higher Funding Than Secular Peers
Translated & summarized from Calcalist by baba
State-religious high school students in Israel receive an average of NIS 49,310 per year, 25.5% more than secular students who receive NIS 39,295, according to new Ministry of Education data. The funding gap has remained consistent, with Arab students receiving the least. The Ministry's report on matriculation exams is criticized for allegedly obscuring changes to exam requirements and presenting a misleadingly low dropout rate. These figures were released by the Ministry under Minister of Education Yoav Kisch.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- State-religious students receive NIS 49,310 annually, 25.5% more than secular students' NIS 39,295.
- The funding gap between state-religious and secular education has remained nearly unchanged.
- Arab state school students receive NIS 37,257, with the gap to religious students narrowing.
- Top-funded schools are predominantly state-religious institutions.
- Ministry of Education data on matriculation exams is criticized as misleading.
- Minister Yoav Kisch is accused of altering exam requirements without updating data.
The average budget per student in state-religious high schools for the 2024/25 school year is NIS 49,310, which is 25.5% higher than the NIS 39,295 allocated per student in secular state high schools. These figures, released by the Ministry of Education, show the funding gap has remained largely unchanged from the previous year. Arab state school students receive an average of NIS 37,257, with the gap between them and state-religious students narrowing to 32.4% from 37% in the prior year. A similar funding advantage for state-religious education is evident in middle schools, with an average of NIS 31,274 per student compared to NIS 26,570 for secular students, a difference of 17.7%. The Ministry of Education also highlighted individual schools with the highest per-student budgets, with the state-religious "Atid Dvir" high school in Beit Shemesh leading at NIS 96,400 annually, followed by "Ulpanat Neve Sarah Herzog" in Bnei Brak at NIS 95,400. State-religious institutions constitute 14 of the top 20 highest-funded high schools and 16 of the top 20 middle schools.
In addition to budget transparency data, the Ministry of Education released its educational outlook for 2024/25, which primarily focuses on matriculation exam results. The report notes a slight increase in overall matriculation eligibility from 76.6% to 77.8%, and in outstanding matriculation certificates from 13.1% to 14.4%. However, the article criticizes these figures, alleging they are misleading due to changes made by Minister of Education Yoav Kisch. Following pressure from students and parents, Kisch agreed to replace summer exams with a "protection score," a change not reflected in the presented data. The article claims this alteration distorts the reported rise in high-tech matriculation eligibility, as students opted out of crucial physics or computer science exams. Furthermore, the report's claim of a national dropout rate of 0.8% for 2024/25 is contrasted with OECD data indicating a higher rate of young people without secondary education in Israel.
