A summary of a 160-page study on Israel by a 29-member mission sponsored by George Washington University emphasized that “despite Israel’s frequent involvement in warfare, its institutions exhibit a unique commitment to humane educational values.”
“Such is a major theme and conclusion” of the study conducted last Nov., according to its editors, Ms. Sharon Enright, assistant director of the university’s Educational Staff Seminar, and John Shultz, editor of the Public Law Education Institute.
The mission, entitled “Impression of Education in Israel,” was prepared by federal government education aides and others under the university’s Educational Seminar. The mission was headed by Dr. Samuel Halperin, director of the university’s Institute for Educational Leadership.
“Even the paramilitary Gadna, responsible for readying Israeli youth for military service, spends much of its time working with street corner gangs and delinquent youths trying to insure that they make a positive contribution to society,” the study summary said.
It quoted one observer as reporting: “Widely acknowledged as Israel’s paramount concern after national security, education is viewed as the human path to a secure national future.” This observer was identified, as George Kaplan, assistant to the director for the Center for Career Education of the U.S. Office of Education. (By Joseph Polakoff)
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