Provisions for paid sabbatical years for Israel’s secondary school teachers were approved today in agreements between the Government’s Education Department and local councils and the Teachers Union.
Teachers with 15 or more years of tenure will be the first to be eligible for the sabbatical year refresher studies starting in 1964. Teachers with eight years’ experience will next be eligible. Those taking the sabbatical year will draw 80 percent of their regular salaries from a fund for which they will, starting this month, contribute two-and-a-half percent of their pay.
The agreement spurred activity by elementary and kindergarten teachers to achieve similar agreements. It was expected that the Education Ministry would yield to the strong teachers lobby and agree. There are some 2,100 kindergartens in Israel, 1,200 primary schools and some 140 secondary schools, In addition, there are special schools operated for the handicapped and working youth.
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