Israel’s Ministry of Education and the City of Eilat agreed Sunday to
admit African refugee children into the city’s schools after Israel’s
High Court of Justice reportedly harshly criticized them during a
hearing Thursday. For four years, the city, with the backing of the
Ministry of Education, had refused to enroll the children in any of the
city’s public schools for the past four years.
Eilat Backs Down, Agrees To Enroll African Refugee Children In Public Schools
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Israel’s Ministry of Education and the City of Eilat agreed Sunday to admit African refugee children into the city’s schools after Israel’s High Court of Justice reportedly harshly criticized them during a hearing Thursday. For four years, the city, with the backing of the Ministry of Education, had refused to enroll the children in any of the city’s public schools for the past four years.
Instead, last year approximately 55 refugee children of various ages from Sudan and Eritrea were sent to a one room makeshift school in an abandoned youth village outside the city.
The new binding agreement reached yesterday reportedly stipulates that Eilat’s public schools will open special remedial classes for the African students.
"The purpose of these 'absorption' classes is to narrow the gaps, with the intention of allowing the students to integrate into the regular classes in the future," the agreement reportedly reads. “[P]edagogic evaluations of the educational levels of each student in the subjects taught" will determine each student’s class level and refugee children will be able to join regular classes when their educational level warrants.
All refugee students will be evaluated during the first half of the school year and some may be mainstreamed into regular classes at that time.
But refugee kindergarten and first-grade students will start the year in regular classes with Israeli children, not in remedial classes.