Ort Aided 36, 000 Last Year; Maintained Trade Schools in 19 Countries

The American Ort Federation today reported that, during the year 1958, the Ort provided educational and economic services to 36, 000 persons in 19 countries. Seventy different trades were taught in the Ort schools for vocational training, the report said.

Cost of all Ort activities in 1958 was $5, 386, 207. This year expenditures are expected to come to more than $5, 657, 000, a rise of $271, 000. The report attributes the largest part of Ort income to American Jewish philanthropic gifts. The Joint Distribution Committee allocated $1, 605, 000 in 1958 out of United Jewish Appeal funds and has pledged $1, 600, 000 for 1959. Membership dues of Women’s American Ort and other affiliated groups here, contributed an additional $677,901.

Ort schools graduated close to 10,000 persons last year. The report notes that graduates had no difficulty in finding employment since the shortage of skilled and trained workers in Israel, North Africa, Iran and Western Europe, the principal areas of Ort work, “puts a premium on those with technical skill.” The report notes that the number of persons enrolled for training in Ort during 1958 was 30 percent higher than the year before.

The report calls attention to the close cooperation between Ort and various governmental and United Nations bodies. In 1958, for example, Ort was assigned full responsibility by the United States Escapee Program for all vocational training of refugees under its aegis in Austria. A program of foreman training was undertaken jointly with the International Labor Office and the Israeli Ministry of Labor, at the Ort Central Institute in Switzerland. In France and Italy, government subventions cover the largest part of local Ort schools.