OVERHAUL EDUCATION

In her column “Investing in our tomorrow” (July 10), Brenda Katten joins a growing chorus of Israelis who are appalled by the continuing decline in our education system. For a cerebral people who supposedly place much store in the value of education, it is ironic that, despite clear pockets of excellence, our educational system overall appears to be floundering.

Education, to state the obvious, is vital for the well-being of a society and its individual members. It is the key to economic prosperity, national security and the transmission of values and virtues necessary to preserve Israel as a liberal democracy.

The cures to Israel’s educational ills are well-known. An exemplar of an excellent education system which Israel’s minsters could look to and learn from, if they could be bothered, is found in Singaporean society and its education system. This includes:

(1) A deep cultural commitment to education; (2) In consequence, Singapore accords prestige and status to the teaching profession; (3) Teachers are remunerated at a level that is commensurate with the high status they enjoy; (4) The high status and remuneration serve to attract the best graduates; (5) Rigorous admission criteria are applied to teacher training colleges; (6) A heavy investment is made in formal mentoring and ongoing professional development; and (7) Educational reforms are evidence-based and implemented with a long-term perspective.

To be sure, Singapore’s approach is expensive but demonstrates that you get what you pay for. It has been a central factor in allowing Singapore, in the space of a mere 50 years, to go from an impoverished tropical island to a constantly innovating economic powerhouse.

Israel has a choice – to either persist in its well-trodden path that has led to mediocrity or to gradually but substantially increase its investment in education to advance the well-being of individual Israelis and the nation as a whole.

ALLAN BOROWSKI

Jerusalem The writer was a visiting professor, National University of Singapore, 2019.

Israel has a choice – persist in its welltrodden path to mediocrity or substantially increase its investment in education