Government allocates one billion shekels for summer education program

The program includes “long holiday schools”, preparatory courses, developmental activities, additional classes and various activities.

The Ministry of Education said that about 90% of the country’s local councils, including Druze, Arab and Bedouin, have already registered to participate in the program.

In May, at a press conference, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Education Minister Yoav Kisch presented a plan for an expanded “Summer Vacation School” for kindergarteners and students in grades 1-9. According to the announced program, for kindergarteners and students in grades 1-3, the “Summer Vacation School” will be extended by 10 days and will last until July 31. The fee for this month will range from 75 to 450 shekels per child, depending on the socio-economic cluster of the locality.

For students in grades 4-6, the Summer Plus program will be launched – two weeks of individual lessons in small groups or one-on-one in mathematics, English and their native language. Lessons will be taught by external teachers or in-house teachers for an additional fee.

For students in grades 7-9, whose school year ends on June 20, “Summer Preparatory Courses” will be held from June 21 to 30, focusing primarily on technology education using AI. This is one of the first steps by the state towards the official introduction of artificial intelligence-based learning into the education system.

Participation in the programs is voluntary: neither students nor teachers are required to attend. Recruitment of external employees is the responsibility of local authorities, since it was not possible to reach an agreement with the teachers’ union on compensation for school days missed due to the war.