New survey reveals what Israelis believes affects quality of education

As children all over Israel head back to school on Sunday, the results of a new survey conducted by the Smith Institute for the Israel Democracy Institute among Israelis about the quality of education and factors affecting children's education have been released, reports Trend citing to Reuters.

The survey was based on a representative sample of the population by gender, age, region of residence, nationality, education, and level of religious observance.

People were asked in July 2019 about their positions on various issues related to the education system. Almost two thirds of those questioned, 65%, identified the quality of educational staff as the main factor affecting the quality of their children's education, while 48% cited the quality of instruction given, and 18% said it was the quality of education management.

Another 18% responded that the major factor impacting on the quality of their children’s education is the number of students in the class, and about 12% answered the school’s budget.

In 2017 a survey of OECD countries found that of the 34 countries that participated, Israel placed fifth in terms of large class size, with an average of 27 students per primary school class and 32 students per middle school class.

Only 14% responded that in principle, they would encourage their son or daughter to become teachers, and 15% replied that they did not know if they would or would not. The majority of people, 71%, responded that, for various reasons, they would not encourage their children to become teachers.

24% of those believed it was because "the work is hard with a high burnout", while a further 22% believe that the teaching profession is not respected.

Only 16% of the respondents believe that the education system provides equal opportunities for students, whereas 84% think it does not, and 47% of those believe that education in Israel’s geographic and social periphery is of a lower quality.

One quarter of those surveyed, 25%, think that children with learning disabilities do not get sufficient education.

A large percentage, 62%, think that the all education from birth should be state-funded, even if that means raising taxes. In contrast, only 28% think that education should not be state-funded.