The Israeli school year will end next Sunday in the heat of labor strife which has plagued it for the last few months and could affect the resumption of classes when the summer vacation period is over.
Elementary school teachers, members of a Histadrut union, were on strike today, forcing the schools to close. They said they would engage in partial work stoppages until next Friday and another full strike on Sunday, the last day of school. High schools are not affected. Their teachers belong to a rival union independent of Histadrut.
The teachers’ action means that pupils in the lower grades will end the term without their certificates of completion. The teachers said they will not participate in preparations for the next school year. One issue is the dismissal notices the Education Ministry sent to more than 1,000 non-tenured teachers. They have not been rescinded.
The Ministry said they were forced by budgetary constraints and maintained that they could have been avoided had the teachers’ union agreed to forego part of their salary and working conditions demands for one year.
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