26,000 Haredi children will reach the age of 18 without knowing basic mathematics, civics, or any English at all.
Up until now, the 260 Haredi Yeshivas that did not teach the Core Curriculum to their children were deemed inappropriate to receive governmental funding. They received such funding anyway, contra legem. But since the matter had been exposed, these Haredi institutions faced the threat of being revoked of any governmental funding unless they incorporate some math and English lessons in their curriculum.
A new law that passed in the Knesset late last week now allows this absurd situation to resume, lawfully! Ignorance is not state sponsored.
This novel measure only perpetuate the cycle of ignorance and poverty within the Haredi population, and further divides the Israeli community as a whole. Another implication of the Haredi educational system is the inability of Haredi children to be exposed to contradictory dogmas, and when some of these already grown-up children decide to question religion and to enter the realm of secularism — and be sure, these people do exist — they step outside with no tools or knowledge to help them face the secular reality.
In short, it’s an educational system that perpetuates control no less than it perpetues ignorance. While I deeply respect my Haredi brothers, I don’t think this ever-growing seclusion is doing them good.
Ariel is one of the largest settlements in the West Bank; a central point of contention between the Israelis and the Palestinians in a future Peace Agreement. There is an academic center that operates in the city since 1982, titled “The College of Judea and Samaria in Ariel”. It began as an affiliate of Bar-Ilan University, but later went its own separate way. In the last three years, several parties have been attempting to grant the college of Ariel a University status. Recently, the college even changed its official title to “
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