The main problems of the early age Israeli education system: some comparisons with European and non-European countries

Abstract

Israel has a serious problem of early age education, which is usually explained by budget problems. However, when comparing the rate of the national education expenses as a percentage of the GDO to that of other GDP countries, tis fact seems to be hard to understand. Furthermore, a very high percentage of early age education expenses in Israel are public, as compulsory education starts at age 3, the earliest of all OECD countries. This fact situation can be explained by the very high birthrate in Israel, its lack of professional educators – especially for age 0-2 and also for 3-5-year old’s, by the high percentage of children participating in ECE, mainly due to the short maternal leave, and by the 15-year duration of compulsory education in Israel, which requires a substantial part of its workforce to be educators in order to cover all needs of a country with a large young population. It is customary to blame financial difficulties of the poor educational achievements, unsatisfactory conditions for learning – both from the point of view of the educational staff and the students, and inability to recruit teachers of all stages, headmistresses and headmasters. That has been the Israeli situation years before the covid-19 had first burst into our lives. This is to show that there are some substantial obstacles – independent or at least – not solely dependent on budget difficulties, that are the main cause of Israel's law educational achievements and the status of Israel as a country with a very high birthrate, in need of good teachers and learning conditions but is far from reaching any of these aims. This situation starts in early age situation, and influences Israeli children, youths and adults.