Former Education Minister Offers Four Priorities for Next Israeli Education Minister

As the new school year begins, Israel's education system faces significant challenges. Former Education Minister Yuli Tamir proposes four core principles for the incoming minister to address these issues, emphasizing that a new reform is not the answer.

Tamir's first recommendation is to prioritize teachers, stating that a strong education system relies on its educators. She argues that the teaching profession has lost its appeal due to bureaucracy, excessive oversight, and burnout, despite the perceived shortage of personnel. To revitalize the profession, Tamir suggests not only increasing salaries but also rebuilding the profession by offering greater autonomy, diverse career paths, opportunities to combine teaching with other pursuits, and reducing non-teaching administrative tasks.

Secondly, she advocates for restoring deep reading in schools. In a world that rewards speed and constant digital interaction, Tamir believes schools should be a space for practicing slowness. Students need to be able to read extensively, engage with complex arguments, write independently, and hold extended conversations without digital interruptions. This deep literacy, she asserts, is crucial for independent thinking.

Tamir's third point addresses artificial intelligence (AI). Instead of banning AI, she suggests teaching students to use it as a tool for research, comparison, and critique, while simultaneously developing their ability to think, write, and solve problems without it. The focus should be on distinguishing between tasks where technology is a tool and those where human effort is the core of learning.

Finally, Tamir reminds the future minister that not all educational problems originate within schools. Academic achievement is linked to social status, home environment, income, security, and future prospects. She argues that teachers cannot be expected to bridge societal gaps alone. Therefore, education policy must include investment in early childhood education, libraries, extracurricular activities, meals, family support, and creating an environment where children have a reason to believe their efforts will pay off.