Israel – Leading figures in the state religious-education system are undermining the Education Ministry’s attempts to institute regulations that will require school principals to hold master’s degrees.
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Ministry officials said opposition to the directive is part of a broader trend whereby the religious-education system is moving further into the camp of the national religious ultra-Orthodox (a community often referred to by its Hebrew acronym Hardal ).
Current government policy requires school principals to have completed a principals’ training course (taught at various colleges and universities around the country ) or to hold a master’s degree in education administration.
As part of their efforts to improve the quality of school administrations, ministry officials first proposed several months ago that a master’s degree be obligatory for all principals. Officials in the religious-education system, however, have firmly opposed the measure, effectively bringing the issue to a standstill.
Principal training programs have transformed over the past two years, with more emphasis placed on practical instruction. “For the changes to be complete rather than merely patchwork,” one official said, “the right thing to do is strengthen the academic background of prospective principals and require that they have master’s degrees. It’s a fundamental requirement.”
Candidates seeking to be principals of post-secondary schools are required to hold advanced degrees, but officials said the requirement is not always enforced. Elementary school principals are only required to have bachelor’s degrees.
Prominent rabbis in the national religious camp (and by extension, the national religious ultra-Orthodox ) have voiced opposition to the new measure, officials said, attributing their stance to a general aversion to higher academic studies.
Most teachers hailing from the national-religious camp do not have master’s degrees, and their professional advancement could consequently be undercut by the new requirement.
“The top Education Ministry officials must now decide whether to show resolve by not giving up on the master’s degree requirement for all prospective principals, or to exempt the religious public from it. If they exempt the religious, it’s possible that Arab candidates will demand similar terms,” one official said.
As reported in Haaretz last month, leading figures in the Religious Education Administration recently effected changes that lend their school system a decidedly more ultra-Orthodox feel.
Secular books have been removed from nursery libraries, Torah study often takes the place of core subjects and boys and girls are separated from first grade on, including on school buses.
The Education Ministry released the following response: “The issue is being studied. The ministry will respond to the matter at the end of these assessments.”
The head of the Religious Education Administration, Avraham Lipschitz, declined to comment.
Masters degree for principals?! That’s crazy. That’s like requiring that Doctors have medical decrees and dentists have a Dentistry degree. What nonsense.A principal that actually knows what he’s doing. Think of all the damage he can do.
Look at Satmar,BoBob and Pupa for examples of incredible Menahalim. CLUELESS That’s the way we like it Ahaha.
The ultra orthodox in israel like toldos ahoron,toldos avrum yitzchuk,dushinski,satmar,shomrie aminim and more, dont even take money from the goverment so they dont have any problem
The ultra orthodox in israel like toldos ahoron,toldos avrum yitzchuk,dushinski,satmar,shomrie aminim and more, dont even take money from the goverment so they dont have any problem
The should not need smicha either
As a licensed and highly successful special education teacher, who for many years goes daily into many institutions I have first hand knowledge and the expertise to determine the tragic state of Jewish Education today. Jewish Education is in a major crises and few seem to realize the catostrophic proportions of the disaster we are facing today. The list of problems are too numerous to mention here. I could write pages of what can be done to fix the problems. Most of the problems can be directly attributed to those people who both run and teach our youth. Many of those who run our institututions do not have the slighest idea of how to educate. Many principals are hired not because they know how to educate or how to deal with children, but are hired because they are thugs who can intimidate misbehaving students into submission. The louder the principal can yell and scare a misbehaving student into submission the better. Our children are being robbed of their youth. They must sit in prison-like conditions for such long hours daily to listen to irrelavent lectures. Our educators teach mental gymnastics all day with little Torah true values.
For what it’s worth, the only college educated teacher on staff in my high school had no rapport with her students, could not teach, and was a total waste of resources.
Why are they all getting so upset? The way around it is to hire a principal with a master’s degree, and then, after the government funding comes in, pay the guy with the master’s degree $50 a month to just cash the check, and pay part of the remaining funds to the principals you really want but who do not have masters’ degrees. Whatever is left over is pure profit.
Maybe Hertz Frankel can show them the ins and outs of how it’s done!
(continued from previous comment)
There is a great need for trained and talented teachers and principals. If a person is trained but is not talented or is talented but is not trained he will not be an effective educator. We must change our educational philosophies and redesign them to make them student friendly and stimulating. We must shorten our school days and weeks. Children need to be active and not incarcerated in their seats all day long. Each child needs warmth, understanding, and to feel he is important. One size does not fit all. Each child learns in is own unique way. We cannot wharehouse education. Children are curious and we must provide the means through which we can capitalize on their curiosity. Children need to express themselves through various different means of expresion. There is so much more to say but not enough space to say it in. In short we need loving, caring, intelligent, and creative educators who can think out of the box. If we don’t change we will have a major catastrophy.
The state of education in some places is disgraceful and an embarrassment to our parents and grandparents who fought their way to America so that we could have it better. I PERSONALLY know people who teach kids in a particular yeshiva where the teenage KIDS have as high, if not more of an education than the TEACHER.
Reply to #12
You have proven my point. Since most parents are not in the classrooms and do not know what is going on in school and do not know what a proper education should include you mistakenly think that Yeshivas are fine places and that our students are all respectful and happy campers. Which planet do you live on? It is quite obvious that you are not at all aware what is going on in our Yeshivas. College educated people such as myself, who combine indepth Torah knowledge together with proffesional training, combined with creativity, and common sense have been extremely successful in helping multitudes of people. In addition, Torah-true Psychologists have helped countless people. I am very disappointed with your sugar- coated and erroneous analysis and conclusions.
Strong credentials in chinuch and administration and torah knowledge are NOT mutually exclusive. This article only proves once again that the chareidi leadership seems intent on perpetuating their own ignorance into the next generation. Hashem yarachem on the yinglach so poorly served of these misguided gadolei torah.
How will we get future generations of gedolim and leaders who have a clue about our society when they are a byproduct of such a Charedi schooling where educators resist education themselves and dismiss core education subjects? A wise man is a well rounded person. In past centuries are gedolim not only studied Torah but were not afraid of maths, sciences and philosophy. Today’s Charedi world arrogantly dismisses those subjects as if they are producing whiz-kids with their education styles.
Many of are youth fail in school where they should have succeeded and many of our youth succeed inspite of the education they receive because they are bright and even if a monkey taught them they would do well. I am tired of Yeshivas taking the credit for these bright students. The sucess of the bright students has nothing to do with the education they receive. Too many of are youth come out of Yeshiva hooked on smoking, alcohol, drugs, and go off the derech. In my time, about 35 years ago, no one in my yeshiva did any of these terrible things. If you think #7 , #13 , #17 , and #18 are wrong why do we have such terrible problems in our schools today that we didn’t have before? Why do we have project yes, priority 1, the place, and other such institutuions if our yeshivas are so great. Why are hundreds of our youth going off the derech? If you say this isn’t true then you do not know what is going on. You do not see what is going on in school during the day. You go PTA twice a year, if even that, and see the beautiful stage show the school puts on for you. You would buy the Brooklyn Bridge. Even if your child is doing well then what about the hundreds who are not? Wake up!
Reply # 22, and #16
All what you say is irrelavent. You are not a teacher like #14 . You do not have any idea what a good education should be like. You do not see how a school functions when you are not there. So your kid is doing well that is all you see. How about the hundreds who are failing? Why are they failing? Your kid is doing better than you did. Does that prove our system is good? Look at all our problem youth. This tells me something is wrong. So a few kids make it. For every kid who makes it there are more who don’t. #16 you say you have personal first hand experience in school who are you the school janitor? Our youth are in trouble and janitors are giving their opinions about education saying that everything is great. We need action now to help those kids who can’t wait for tommorrow. For them tommorrow is now.
We will stand before Moshiach embarrassed to tears for our generation’s failure to provide precious Jewish youth with the education they deserved. Our leaders will sadly be shown to have led us astray – like the false shepherds in the day of Yirmiyah. I support the effort in Eretz Yisroel to raise the standard for administrators (and teachers).
At this moment the principals need a Bachelor’s degree in all elementary schools. If they are going for a four year degree what’s one more year? I find most people are naieve when it comes to there children’s education. There is room for major improvement in our education, and it takes a very sharp principal with the proper training to help guide our Rabbeim. There are many new methods out there to help our children, but most Yeshivahs are either not aware of them or are too closed minded to except these methods.
First of all the chareidi girls schools in America and Israel are superior in education and passing grades while in public schools and national schools in Israel the passing rates of students are much lower.
In yeshivas/chederim the emphasis is placed on Torah learning and that by any stretch of imagination cannot be called producing illiterates, unless Torah is places as equal or lesser value than secular education.
Now what is really bothering the Education Ministry is as I quote from the aricle “As reported in Haaretz last month, leading figures in the Religious Education Administration recently effected changes that lend their school system a decidedly more ultra-Orthodox feel.
Secular books have been removed from nursery libraries, Torah study often takes the place of core subjects and boys and girls are separated from first grade on, including on school buses. “
Aha. They do not want a more religious flavor in the schools. So they feel if the principals will be more “educated” they will be less inclined to make religious changes. That is exactly what the religious are resisting.
They are educated, they have Smicha. The State of Israel has no right to tell religious Jews how to run their education system.
ATT #16 & 23 in reference to Od Avinu Chai
It is sad to see both egnoring the contant of hez woids and fokus on his spilling.
He is an educator in Boro Park in a chasidic institution for special ed students.
He is an ordained Rabbi from Israel 15 yrs ago.
He is dedicated to his profession spending much personal time speaking to the parents of his students in evenings.
I know him.He called me to read your comments.
Would you dismiss MOSEHE RABBEINU because of his speech impediment?
I heard a shiur by the great RAbbi of this genration Rabbi Avigdor Miller Z’tl who said the people are impressed by a great speaker that says not much, and not the quality of the shiur of a rabbi who is a great thinker and educator.
I worry more of people such as you that bypass wisdom for a purim costume.
Many people have little precious time to think , write spell check, correct,rewrite.
There are those that write form their heart without hesitating if the grammer or spelling is correct.
Their words from the heart are more valuable then a showman.
#16 , your ”firsthand knowledge is different from his first hand experience.
#23, broaddbrushing a subject..this is not a personal 1 to 1 advise colume
#23 and 16
the readers would love to know exactly what you disagree with
and what your advise would be.
I believe this would be more constructive and less negative…