As Israel’s 500,000 children returned to the schools which re-opened for the fall semester yesterday, the Ministry of Education announced today that the teacher shortage in this country has been alleviated somewhat by the appointment of 1,850 new school teachers.
Of the 1,850 new appointees, the Ministry stated, 1,100 are recent graduates of colleges and normal schools; 250 are young women teachers released from Army service for service in border settlements; 300 are teachers discharged from Army service; and 200 are newly-arrived immigrants who have had teacher-training.
This year’s enrollment of 500,000 children in Israel’s schools exceeds last year’s enrollment by 30,000. In spite of the assignment of the 1,850 additional teachers, the Ministry stated, there will still be about 1,000 classes that will operate on a double shift basis–some children attending these classes only in the morning, while others will attend in the afternoon. The Ministry announced also that the school luncheon program has been expanded this year. More than 100,000 pupils in 1,100 schools will receive free meals.
An all-day religious school opened in the southern port city of Eilath yesterday. The school is operated by the same American Committee for Boys Town, Jerusalem which operates a vocational school for teenagers in Jerusalem. The school at Eilath will teach regular elementary school subjects until noon each day and then the pupils will receive a Jewish education until sundown when they return home.
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