The decision is final: Israeli elementary schools to be extended by 9 days

Grades 7-10 will end school on July 1 – 11th and 12th graders will complete their matriculation exams during the last week of June.

By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN
A girl hugs her mother before entering her elementary school in Sderot as it reopens following the ease of restrictions preventing the spread of the coronavirus disease. (photo credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)
A girl hugs her mother before entering her elementary school in Sderot as it reopens following the ease of restrictions preventing the spread of the coronavirus disease.
(photo credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)
Elementary and preschools will remain open until July 13 to help make up the nine days of school that were missed in March, when the country shut down to help stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.
In a briefing, newly appointed Education Minister Yoav Gallant said that an agreement was struck between the Israel Teachers’ Union and the Finance and Education ministries to add the extra days.
Grades 7-10 will end school on July 1. Eleventh and 12th graders will complete their matriculation exams between June 22 and 27.
As part of the negotiations, Gallant said that it was decided that every hour of distance learning will be considered equivalent to an hour of frontal learning, both in this situation and in any future scenarios.
The agreement was not signed by the Irgun Hamorim (the Teachers’ Union), whose head Ron Erez refused to come to the negotiating table. However, Gallant said that “our decision is the decision. The government stands behind it.
“I believe in the teachers and in their responsibility toward the children and the state,” he continued. “I have been all around the country and met with many teachers and students. They want to learn.”
He told reporters that the Education Ministry has the “tools” to ensure that teachers show up for class if a scenario arrives in which they refuse to do so – although he does not expect having to use them.
The Teachers’ Union responded that the agreement it signed was based on the principle of “equality among all teaching staff.” In other words, if Erez, who represents middle and high school teachers, does not agree to let the teachers extend the year, the younger grades will not extend the year either.
It is expected that Erez and Gallant will meet in court in the coming days and only then will parents be able to be confident about the date of the last day of school.
Gallant, however, welcomed Erez to meet and come on board with the government decision before such a court date.
“This is not a normal year and we are not living in a normal situation,” he stressed, noting that “everyone needs to understand that the state comes before any one organization.”