As religious schools in Israel grow, maths is neglected

two myths about Israeli education,” says Haim Shaked, head of Israel’s forum of teachers’ colleges. “One is that Jews care deeply about education. That may have been true when we were in exile and needed to retain our Jewish identity. In Israel that’s no longer the case. The second myth is that because Israel is such a tech success, with , this means that Israeli education is excellent. What we have are islands of excellence surrounded by a failing system.” A report in October backed his gloomy prognosis. The number of trainee teachers had fallen by 38% compared with the previous year, as morale in the classroom plummeted. The government has raised teachers’ pay and made it easy to get into teacher-training college. But the number of teachers keeps falling. The profession lacks prestige. Bright young Israelis nowadays are keener to go into tech companies.