Developments in Israel’s Education System

Two prominent features are the rising share of enrollment in unofficial recognized Arab schools and the growing trend of extending kindergarten by an extra year for six-year-olds. Comparisons of teachers’ pay and work conditions in Israel and other countries are based on the OECD publication “Education at a Glance.”

Once data from Israel are properly adjusted and corrected, Israeli teachers fare much better comparatively than is commonly thought. The chapter’s final section discusses pupils’ achievements on the matriculation exams. Although the percentage of pupils receiving a matriculation certificate has remained stable in recent years, when viewed along with the growing number of ultra-Orthodox and East Jerusalem Arab pupils who opt out of these exams, there is an increase in 12th grade enrollment rates and in the percentage of pupils taking the matriculation exams, earning the matriculation certificate, and meeting higher education admission requirements.

This paper appears in the Center’s annual publication State of the Nation Report – Society, Economy and Policy 2010.