“During the new school year commencing September, 1977, the number of pupils within the framework of Youth Aliya will be 18,600, of whom 16,800 are disadvantaged youth–a peak number in the history of Youth Aliya,” said Joseph Klarman, world head of Youth Aliya, in a report to Hadassah’s 63rd annual national convention at the New York Hilton Hotel. Some 3000 delegates are attending the parley which ends Wednesday.
He said that since 1971, when he submitted plans to the Jewish Agency for the narrowing of the social gap, more than 12,000 disadvantaged youth were absorbed by Youth Aliya. In the early years, most Youth Aliya students were immigrant, not native-born Israelis. This year, the intake will comprise 6500 new pupils, which means some 4500 will replace those who terminated their schooling this year, and the increase of the additional 2000 youth, according to Klarman.
Since 1972, when Youth Aliya launched its program to serve Israel’s disadvantaged youth, it has built 50 dormitories, 17 youth day centers, and opened two new educational institutions for this disadvantaged youth, Klarman reported. Four of the day centers were built by Hadassah, and a fifth is pledged for Herzliya, at a cost of $1 million. This year, three more youth day centers and two dormitories in children’s villages will begin to be constructed. Three mobile culture caravans to service the youth centers have been provided by Hadassah. Klarman said that Youth Aliya’s world budget for this year amounts to $35 million.
He also told the convention that the Youth Aliya movement in Israel will share the $1 million cost of the day center planned for Herzliya. “The gift is in recognition of Hadassah’s 65th anniversary and of the role Hadassah played in the founding and growth of the 44-year-old child rescue movement,” Klarman said.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
