A study was released on Sunday by the Jerusalem based Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel, saying that education gaps in Israel were, in the last decade, the highest in the Western world.
Taub Center executive-director Professor Dan Ben-David said that the Israeli school system’s failure to grant children tools to be used in adult life
“will put them at a severe disadvantage that many will be unable to extricate themselves from…by creating the largest education gaps in the Western word,” he added that Israel is “sowing the seeds today of high income gaps tomorrow.”
The comparative study of grade school students from 25 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member states, proved that students from Israel had scores that were inconsistent on international exams, in comparison to students from around the world.
The study also showed, sadly, that Israeli achievement test scores were substantially lower than in other Western nations. In some instances Israel had scores which were lower by a margin as wide as 20 points.
Italy was the only Western nation which came close to Israel’s ranking, with students receiving comparatively low test scores, nonetheless which were higher than those of Italy’s Israeli counterparts.
Even Israeli honor students received comparatively lower test scores on international tests, though by a smaller margin. The most dramatic difference was manifested by the weak Israeli pupils; compared to their Canadian and Finnish counterparts, a margin as high as 60 points was observed.
“For a country whose entire population is barely greater than that of metropolitan Philadelphia … these findings indicate existential problems in the next generation – unless a comprehensive reform of the educational system is adopted, and soon,”
concluded Ben-David.
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