Avraham Katz, chairman of the Knesset’s education committee, proposed today that Israel’s six institutions of higher learning be merged into a single large University of Israel in order to solve the financial problems affecting all of them. The idea was promptly rejected by Education Minister Aharon Yadlin and Dr. Yehoshua Rotenstreich, chairman of the Council of Higher Education.
Katz, a Likud MK, said the existing six campuses should serve as branches of a single State University to eliminate waste and duplication. Rotenstreich claimed, however, that a State University would be unable to raise funds in the U.S. because of the heavy taxes imposed on contributions to national universities. He argued, furthermore, that a national institution would not enjoy ties established with diaspora Jewry by each of the six separate institutions through their boards of governors. Yadlin observed that the existing universities find it difficult to manage large campuses and he failed to see how one giant campus would increase efficiency.
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