Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Education Minister Shai Piron announce Schools of Summer program. Photo: Muki Shwartz
Children across the country will get a shorter summer vacation from school starting next year, according to a plan announced by the Ministry of Education together with Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein’s International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (ICFJ) on Thursday.
Under the plan, from July 1 to July 21, young people studying to become teachers and teachers who choose to, will take over the schools and conduct activities designed to awaken pupils’ creativity such as workshops for reading and writing, sessions on community involvement, environmental education, interactive learning as well as sports, among others. Activities will also revolve around learning about social values.
The initiative, entitled “Schools of Summer”, joins other efforts of Education Minister Shai Piron to ensure that the education system takes responsibility for pupils even when they are not at school. These include this past summer’s ‘Educators around the Clock’ program, a collaboration between the ministry, teachers, local authorities and NGOs which offered a range of activities for students to partake in during the summer.
Senior Vice President of the IFCJ Yael Eckstein told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that the initiative, which she called “historic,” would help children but also parents across the country.
“The children we have helped and continue to help, often come from single parent households that earn the minimum wage,” she said, “Their mum works a double shift to put food on the table and she doesn’t have time to occupy them.”
Eckstein added that the new project will improve the everyday lives of these families during the summer months.
“I know they worry about this all year long,” she said.
The Fellowship already begun tackling the issue this past summer by establishing summer camps in 50 different communities across the country for children from low-income families to enjoy during the break, close to NIS 16 million were spent on the project.
Eckstein also explained that in partnering with the state on projects such as the summer school, the Fellowship seeks to “enable the government to help more people”
“We don’t want to give funds on projects that would be happening either way,” she said, “The only way the Fellowship would partner with the government on projects is if the government needs extra funds in order to carry out the project.”
“We don’t want to take over the government’s responsibility, we want to fill the gaps,” she added, “My goal is to have projects here in Israel that no one else is doing and get to the people that no one else is getting to.”
The project aims to provide a solution for working parents who are struggling to find arrangements and improvise activities for their children during the summer months.
“This is not just a pilot program, it’s a revolution,” Education Minister Piron said on Thursday.
“Education includes every child everywhere, all year round,” he added, “The 'Schools of Summer' [plan] gives an appropriate and optimized solution to the needs of teachers, parents and pupils.”
Under the plan, from July 1 to July 21, young people studying to become teachers and teachers who choose to, will take over the schools and conduct activities designed to awaken pupils’ creativity such as workshops for reading and writing, sessions on community involvement, environmental education, interactive learning as well as sports, among others. Activities will also revolve around learning about social values.
The initiative, entitled “Schools of Summer”, joins other efforts of Education Minister Shai Piron to ensure that the education system takes responsibility for pupils even when they are not at school. These include this past summer’s ‘Educators around the Clock’ program, a collaboration between the ministry, teachers, local authorities and NGOs which offered a range of activities for students to partake in during the summer.
Senior Vice President of the IFCJ Yael Eckstein told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that the initiative, which she called “historic,” would help children but also parents across the country.“The children we have helped and continue to help, often come from single parent households that earn the minimum wage,” she said, “Their mum works a double shift to put food on the table and she doesn’t have time to occupy them.”
Eckstein added that the new project will improve the everyday lives of these families during the summer months.
“I know they worry about this all year long,” she said.
The Fellowship already begun tackling the issue this past summer by establishing summer camps in 50 different communities across the country for children from low-income families to enjoy during the break, close to NIS 16 million were spent on the project.
Eckstein also explained that in partnering with the state on projects such as the summer school, the Fellowship seeks to “enable the government to help more people”
“We don’t want to give funds on projects that would be happening either way,” she said, “The only way the Fellowship would partner with the government on projects is if the government needs extra funds in order to carry out the project.”
“We don’t want to take over the government’s responsibility, we want to fill the gaps,” she added, “My goal is to have projects here in Israel that no one else is doing and get to the people that no one else is getting to.”
The project aims to provide a solution for working parents who are struggling to find arrangements and improvise activities for their children during the summer months.
“This is not just a pilot program, it’s a revolution,” Education Minister Piron said on Thursday.
“Education includes every child everywhere, all year round,” he added, “The 'Schools of Summer' [plan] gives an appropriate and optimized solution to the needs of teachers, parents and pupils.”
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