In 2022 there were about 1,286,000 children from birth to age 6 in Israel, and by 2032 that number is expected to reach 1,476,000. Dr. Sarit Silverman and Dr. Carmel Blank, researchers at the Taub Center, focus on the unique challenges facing policy makers in order to improve the quality of early childhood education and care frameworks.
The number of children in special education is increasing, but in the absence of data it is difficult to formulate policy
In the 2022/23 school year, there were about 520,000 children registered for regular preschools and about 27,000 registered for special education preschools. Between the 2018/19 and 2022/23 school years, the number of children in regular preschools increased by 3.9%, while the number in special education preschools rose five times faster, at a rate of 20.3%.
The special education population is a particularly vulnerable one and even more so in wartime. In view of the increase in the proportion of children with special needs, the preschool system will require additional staff with special education training in the coming years.
The research emphasizes the importance of attaining comprehensive data on children with special needs, including the ability to distinguish between those attending special education preschools and those who are integrated into regular preschools, along with sociodemographic data and information on their types of disorder. The data are critical in order to evaluate the early childhood special education system and to ensure that children from all sectors and from all socioeconomic strata are given equal opportunity to attend an educational framework that meets their needs. Unfortunately, these data are currently not available.
One of the policy alternatives proposed in this chapter is increased supervision of daycare centers, which will present an opportunity for the systematic gathering of data on frameworks, staffing, and the children attending them. These data will provide a double benefit: they will make it possible to ensure that the proposed improvements in the early childhood education/childcare system indeed produce better childcare and at the same time contribute to the development of research in this area.
The five-year early childhood education and care plan – a step in the right direction, but it does not address the most serious problem
About a year ago, the Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, and Minister of Education presented a revolutionary plan in early childhood education and care frameworks. The plan includes two components that are meant to reduce the cost of living among parents of young children: increased subsidies for supervised preschools and provision of tax credits for working parents of children from birth to age 3. Although these benefits bring about a certain reduction in tuition for parents of preschool children, in the absence of price regulation, tuition fees may subsequently increase and the financial burden may return to its previous level or even beyond that.
In addition, the program designates large budgets for the construction of subsidized preschools, however, currently the budgets that have already been allocated for the construction of preschools have not been fully utilized, particularly in the Arab local authorities. The program that was formulated does not deal with the numerous barriers to constructing new facilities.
Another aspect of the five-year program focuses on the improvement in the quality of education, and includes an expansion of the system for supervision and training of staff and improvement in the ratio of staff to children. A persistence grant is being provided to teachers/caregivers, and is spread out over more than a year. The researchers believe that this is an important step in improving the quality of education provided to children from birth to age 3. Nonetheless, they emphasize that the program does not address the improvement of working conditions in a fundamental way even though this is the most likely way to attract highly skilled manpower and keep them in the system.
A survey carried out by a Taub Center researcher among child caregivers presents a concerning picture
In order to assess the severity of the manpower problem in daycare facilities for children aged three months to three years, Dr. Carmel Blank surveyed teachers/caregivers and directors in the daycare centers. The survey was distributed between January and March 2023 in Hebrew and Arabic. The findings paint a worrying picture. More than 80% of the directors of subsidized daycare centers and two-thirds of those in private daycare centers reported a shortage in manpower on at least one or two days per week. Many of the respondents reported a shortage on three days per week or more.
More than 90% of the daycare center directors reported problems in recruiting new staff members, and almost 60% of the caregivers in the subsidized daycare centers and 40% in the private daycare centers reported that they often consider leaving the profession, with the most common reason cited being low wages. Other reasons cited were the difficult work and the large number of children in the group.
“The findings emphasize the limitations of the five-year plan. It does not reduce the number of children in a group nor does it significantly improve the working conditions of the teachers/caregivers,” says Dr. Blank. She adds: “Although the program raises the wages of caregivers in the subsidized daycare frameworks, it does not close the gap between their wages and those of caregivers in the private daycare frameworks, which also suffer from a shortage in manpower.”
The researchers propose policy alternatives that can ensure high-quality education and care in early childhood
- The increase in the number of special education preschools and the disparity in accessibility across sectors have far-reaching implications for children’s long-term welfare. Resources should be invested in data collection to understand the extent of the phenomenon.
- The worsening manpower crisis in the daycare frameworks, in both quantity and quality, is preventing the expansion of the early childhood education/daycare system and the improvement of the staff-to-child ratio. Focus should be placed on increasing the number of staff and ensuring that high-skilled workers are recruited and retained. To accomplish this, there is no alternative but to fundamentally improve working conditions, including wages, expand the development of training and professional advancement programs, and reduce the burden on caregivers by reducing the staff to children ratio.
- The Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) and Arab populations are growing, and in order to ensure that there are sufficient educational frameworks for all, large-scale investment is needed in infrastructure, particularly in view of the high incidence of poverty among these groups.
Dr. Sarit Silverman, one of the authors, concludes: “There is increasing recognition of the importance of early childhood education both in public discourse and among policy makers. Given the severe manpower situation and the demographic forecasts for the coming decade, steps should be taken as soon as possible to ensure high-quality and accessible early childhood education and child care.”
The Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel is an independent, non-partisan socioeconomic research institute. The Center provides decision makers and the public with research and findings on some of the most critical issues facing Israel in the areas of education, health, welfare, labor markets and economic policy in order to impact the decision-making process in Israel and to advance the well-being of all Israelis.
For details, or to arrange an interview, please contact Chen Mashiach, Taub Center Spokesperson in Israel: 054-7602151.