Thursday, September 20, 2007

The Issue


There is a major challenge facing a country in the Middle East today that has nothing to do with war, terrorism, or hatred. The issue of public education in Israel is a problem affecting the entire country and has been since the establishment of the state. Public education is a subject that has an impact on the entire country, but specifically the huge number of immigrants who have migrated to Israel from 70 different countries. The risk presented here is if the issue of education is continually shoved under the rug, the future of the country will be questionable. If the government continues to ignore the educational aid needed, the country as a whole will suffer. The idea of education is to teach younger generations how to make a brighter and better future for themselves and their peers. This issue is important because as well as raising money and volunteer efforts for the army, we need to focus on the children who will be the future of this country.

There are numerous explanations as to why this situation has become a more serious issue over the years. The State of Israel is a country that has been through a constant struggle to survive since its establishment. The idea of the prime minister and his administration taking their focus off of our enemies for one moment is frightening and unappealing. The result of this fear is the education system in the country failing, and the children suffering from it. Another reason for the decreasing public education funding is immigration. As more and more immigrants come to Israel from all over the world, there is a substantial focus on helping them integrate into Israeli society as efficiently as possible.

This range of this situation affects the future citizens of Israel. After living in a low-income community in Israel and teaching students English at their public elementary schools, I could see the effects of the poor educational system. These children are the future of their country and they are not given the opportunity to learn about leadership skills, morals, relationships with others, responsibilities, etc. The main reason for these issues occurring is that funding for educational supplies, programs, and staff is diminishing. The State of Israel is a country that has to fight for existence every day and if the younger generations don’t learn the necessary skills to use in the real world, who will be the future leaders of the country?

It is the responsibility of the Jewish community in the U.S. and around the world to act on its behalf. As Israel’s public education funding is decreasing, younger generations are being effected with less opportunity to succeed. While the citizens of Israel are focused on issues of security, the Jewish communities in the U.S. need to help their people from a distance with supplies, funding, and even directly by volunteering. My goal is to communicate the risk of letting this matter get further out of control.

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