Dr. Aron Syngalowski, chairman of the executive committee of the World ORT Union, arrived here today to report on the need of expanding vocational training in Israel, Iran, North Africa and Western Europe. He will negotiate a 1952 agreement with the Joint Distribution Committee through which the ORT receives its funds from the American Jewish community.
The ORT leader told representatives of the press that his organization today operates 275 trade schools in 19 countries with two to three years’ training for adolescents and training workshops for adults. “Last year more than 20, 000 persons passed through these institutions, ” he said, “During the immediate post-war years ORT prepared tens of thousands of refugees and DP’s for a productive existence, both in Israel and in other countries of immigration with the financial assistance of J. D. C. and the International Refugee Organization.”
Emphasizing the important role which the ORT Schools are playing in Italy, North Africa, Iran and Israel, and that “American experts have recognized the high technical standard of these schools, ” Dr. Syngalowski declared: “Nevertheless ORT’s network of schools must now be curtailed, despite the present necessity of expanding this constructive work. The reasons for this curtailment are as follows: 1. ORT work is part of the diminishing budget of the J. D. C.; 2. ORT has been unable to obtain assistance for its Israel schools, since their foundation in 1949. either from the J. D. C. or from the United Palestine Appeal.
“A possible solution lies in the discussions with the leaders of the J. D. C. and of other competent bodies, soon to take place, ” Dr. Syngalowski continued. “The funds now being spent on Jewish vocational training in Israel and in the diaspora constitute a small percentage of the amounts raised in the United States for social relief, ” he pointed out. The percentage is wholly disproportionate to the scale and to the importance of this vital task, ” he concluded.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
