Arab students at teachers' college top Jewish counterparts
Arab colleges have higher admission scores in secular schools; religious Jewish schools scored higher.
By Or Kashti Tags: Israel education Israel newsThe admissions scores of first-year students at colleges training teachers for state-run Arab schools are higher than those preparing for state-run non-religious Jewish schools, a recently released Education Ministry report shows.
But of the 25 teacher training colleges in the country, the one which scored the highest marks was Herzog College in Gush Etzion, which readies students to teach at state-run religious Jewish schools. On average, such colleges had higher admissions rates than those geared toward non-religious schools.
The students at the Academic Institute for Arab Teacher Training at Beit Berl College, on the outskirts of Kfar Sava, and Al-Qasemi Academic College of Education, near Baka al-Garbiyeh, had the highest admissions scores this year of colleges geared toward non-religious schools, both Jewish and Arab.
"We are very happy that we've outranked other institutions, Jewish ones, for training teachers," said Dr. Adel Manna, who heads the Academic Institute for Arab Teacher Training. "Since there are a lot of jobs that are off-limits to Arabs with college degrees the students have no choice but to work from the beginning toward professions where work can be found relatively easily, like teaching. We 'benefit' from this situation."
However, over the past few years there has been a surplus of Arab teachers, leaving some trained staff unemployed. An Education Ministry official estimated recently that the country currently has a surplus of about 5,000 Arab teachers.
The Arab teachers college at Beit Berl had the highest average admissions score for all state-run non-religious schools: 577, a number that combines the scores for the bagrut matriculation exams with the psychometric exam. Al-Qasemi had an average of 565 points. The average for state-run Jewish and Arab non-religious schools was 548.
The third-highest score for the non-religious schools was at the Beit Berl School of Education, with 562 points.
The average for state-run religious schools was 569.
Prof. Shmuel Shilo, who heads Herzog, said the reason for the gap between religious and secular Jewish schools was that in the religious community there were more idealistic students wanting to teach despite the low salaries.
As for the Arab colleges, while Manna focused on selective hiring as a reason for their high rankings, Al-Qasemi head Dr. Muhammad Issawi highlighted the traditionalism of Arab parents.
Issawi said his institution draws female students who scored very high on their psychometric exams and could have chosen to study in the most prestigious departments at the universities."
"But the parents push them to teaching, because the profession is considered relatively convenient and suitable for having a family," he said. "If with the Jews, every mother wants her son to be a doctor or lawyer, with us, many parents want their daughter to be a teacher. That conservatism works in favor of the (teacher training) colleges."
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Elisabeth, You don't see the Jews complaining in Christian countries. You don't see the Jews in England complaining that they can't identify with the state because there is a cross on the flag. Or the Jews of Europe and South America complaining that they can't identify with the state because Roman Catholicism or Lutheran is the official religion. That's just an excuse. Besides, there are plenty of Arab Muslim nation-states - do you complain about them too?
"if you look at class pictures from the `70s, you see almost all the girls in Western dress; while today, both in pictures and on campus, Muslim traditional dress is much more prevalent." Yonatan, if you looked at a 70s picture of IDF officers recruits you would see mostly white European men with blue eyes and bare heads/skulls. Today, you'll see a lot of religious young men with beards and Kippa on their head. Religion is becoming more spread among Muslims and Jews alike. It's not a sign of backwardness or oppression. Similarly, if you walked the streets of Jerusalem in the 70's you would see European religous Jews with one or two children, today you see them walking first, women behind them, and a platoon of 8-10 children! Yes, times have changed!
A state that defines itself as 'Jewish' cannot but alienate citizens that are unfortunate enough not to be Jewish. That is the root problem. If Arab citizens of Israel have a problem identifying with the state, who can blame them. You should not reverse cause and effect
It's not a "casual fact of life for Israelis at all. Would you potentially hostile member of an ethnic minority which does not identify with the State of Israel work in a defense- or security- related plant? Or do research on nuclear physics at a university? Or help develop computer programs that have possible military applications? Yes, it's a sad fact of life, but a predicament that the Arabs themselves have gotten themselves into.
prides itself on the atmosphere of serious study, no matter who you are, existing there - Jews in the College of Education, and Arabs in the Arab Teachers' institute. There are even joint classes in many courses. The sad thing is that over the years, the fundamentalist Muslim Movement has gained strength in the Arab towns and villages so that, if you look at class pictures from the '70s, you see almost all the girls in Western dress; while today, both in pictures and on campus, Muslim traditional dress is much more prevalent. How do the two fit together - Western-style educastion, which emphasizes women's equality, and covering the whole body from head to toe, which emphasizes women's inferiority?
must work towards full recognition of equal rights and equal protection so Israel will live in peace and harmony.
"Since there are a lot of jobs that are off-limits to Arabs with college degrees..." This may just be a casual 'fact of life' for Israeli's, nothing to comment about, but it is these things that give Israel a bad name.
So religious Jews still have the idealism that made Israel great. Religious Jewish girls, like their Arab counterparts, see teaching as a good option because the times fit in with raising a family. I wish the dati leumi could spread a bit of their genuine idealism to the secular Jewish sector!
My first-hand experience working in Arab schools in the country supports these findings. I have encountered excellent teachers who graduated from the Arab colleges (and mixed Arab-Jewish colleges). They are very well-prepared and actually, in many cases, are better prepared for teaching than many university graduates.Keep up the good work!
Since " Broads, Booze, barbiturates "are becoming in 'vogue', ' de rigueur ' with our ultra modern youth, Your statement, Dr. Adel Manna doesn't surprise me. Congratulation. A blanket brush on our youth, perhaps. Unless the press, the TV showing us the results of the " laisser faire " displayed by THEIR parents are fictional.
so Jewish kids will grow up to be religious fanatics and the Arabs will become doctors and writers. a small glimpse into the future of Israel.
It'll be interesting to see the comments on this one.
Of course not... you all went to secular state schools and can no longer think straight. This pretty much says it all about what is going on in Israel today. I am sure the secular left will revel in the illusion that the playing ground has finally been evened out and we have become a "state like all other states"...yes, STUPID.