Educational System of Israel

Israel witnessed rapid changes during the last five decades of its existence as an independent state. Geopolitical developments, particularly the continuous conflict with its Arab state neighbors, affected all spheres of life including education. Demographically, changing patterns of Jewish immigration has transformed the Jewish population several times from predominantly European in the late 1940s to Middle-Eastern during the late 1950s and 1960s and back to European following mass immigration from the former Soviet Union in the late 1980s and 1990s. These demographic changes, including waves of immigrants from Ethiopia, have raised issues of equality in educational policies. The authors of this book provide historical backround and analyses of Israel's educational system that they believe is on the crossroads of still another transformation as a result of the prospects of peace in the region.

YAACOV IRAM is Professor of comparative and international education at the School of Education of Bar-Ilan University, Israel. He is also Chairman of the Josef Burg Chair in Education for Human Values, Tolerance and Peace, and President of the World Association for Educational Research (WAER).

MIRJAM SCHMIDA has retired as head of the School of Education of Bar-Ilan University in 1995. She has written extensively on the sociology of education and is the author of Equality and Excellence: Educational Reform and the Comprehensive School. She was awarded the Prize of Education by the Tel Aviv Municipality and the Prize of Informal Education by the Ministry of Education and Culture.