Twelve new haredi gender segregated campuses will be started this year in Israeli colleges
and universities as part of a government program meant to increase the
number of haredi students receiving a higher education.
Haredi men in class at Kiryat Ono College
Haredim To Get 12 New Gender Segregated College Campuses
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Twelve new haredi campuses will be started this year in Israeli colleges and universities as part of a government program meant to increase the number of haredi students receiving a higher education. The new program will have classes in fields including computer science, optometry, architecture, and art, Ynet reported.
The program – which has a budget of NIS 180 million ($47 million) – is expected to increase the number of haredi higher education students by 20% immediately and double the total number of haredi higher education students by 2017.
The new haredi campuses will be located near existing academic institutions and will offer similar courses. But the haredi campuses will maintain strict gender segregation.
The High Court of Justice, which has previously ruled that similar gender segregation on public buses and sidewalks is illegal, has not yet ruled on the legality of gender segregated, publicly funded, public higher education.
6,000 haredi students now study in three haredi colleges, the Haredi College of Jerusalem, Mivhar College in Bnei Brak, and Kiryat Ono College’s haredi campus.
"This is a move of great social value," Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar reportedly said. "Integrating haredim into the system is highly significant both from the social aspect and from the aspect of integrating into the labor market."