Table 1: Drop-Out Rates 1999-2000 [UPDATED NOVEMBER 2001]
 
Jewish students
Palestinian Arab students
By age 14
0.0%
7.2%
By age 15
1.7%
19.1%
By age 17
11.8%
29.3%

Source: CBS, Statistical Abstract of Israel 2001, table 8.11.
 
 

Table 6: Distribution of Teaching Hours by Grade Level 1999-20001 [UPDATED NOVEMBER 2001]
 
Jewish schools
Arab schools
Total
82.4%
17.6%
Kindergarten
(official)
88.5%
11.5%
Primary
79.0%
21.0%
Intermediate
82.6%
17.4%
Secondary
85.6%
14.4%

Sources: CBS, Statistical Abstract of Israel 2001, table 8.26; and Ministry of Education, Proposed Budget for the Ministry of Education 2001 and Explanations as Presented to the Fifteenth Knesset, no. 11, October 2000, p. 144.
 
 
 

Table 7: Distribution of Teaching Hours-Weekly Hours/Student 1999-20002 [UPDATED NOVEMBER 2001]
 
Jewish students
Palestinian Arab students
Total
1.91
1.52
Kindergarten
(official)
1.51
0.76
Primary
1.92
1.57
Intermediate
1.75
1.5
Secondary
2.22
2.11

Sources: CBS, Statistical Abstract of Israel 2001, tables 8.8, 8.26; and Ministry of Education, Proposed Budget for the Ministry of Education 2001 and Explanations as Presented to the Fifteenth Knesset, no. 11, October 2000, p. 144.
 
 

Table 9: Average Number of Pupils Per Class 2000-2001 [UPDATED NOVEMBER 2001]
 
Jewish schools
Arab schools
Total
25
30
Primary
24
30
Post-primary:
28
31
    Intermediate
31
33
    Secondary:
26
27
    General secondary
28
28
    Continuation classes
n/a
n/a
    Technological/vocational
24
25
    Agricultural
21
33

Source: CBS, Statistical Abstract of Israel 2001, table 8.8.
 
 
 

Table 10: Allocation of Teaching Staff: Children Per Full-Time Teacher 1999-20003 [UPDATED NOVEMBER 2001]
 
Jewish schools
Arab schools
Total
14.3
18.1
Kindergarten
(official)
19.8
39.2
Primary
15.6
19.1
Intermediate
13.7
16.0
Secondary
10.8
11.7

Sources: Ministry of Education, Proposed Budget for the Ministry of Education 2001 and Explanations as Presented to the Fifteenth Knesset, no. 11, October 2000, p. 144; and CBS, Statistical Abstract of Israel 2001, tables 8.9, 8.26.
 
 
 

Table 19: Attendance Rates: Private, Municipal, and State Kindergartens 1999-2000 [UPDATED NOVEMBER 2001]
Age
Jewish students
Palestinian Arab students
3
81.9%
33.6%
4
95.5%
43.0%
5
90.1%
78.9%

Source: CBS, Statistical Abstract of Israel 2001, table 8.10.
 
 
 
 

Calculation of the Distribution of Teaching Hours 1999-2000 [UPDATED NOVEMBER 2001]
 
Full-time equivalents (work units)
Hours
Students
Hours/student
Jewish schools
Arab schools
Jewish schools
Arab schools
Jewish students
Palestinian Arab students
Jewish students
Palestinian Arab students
Total
83,859
17,858
2,279,190
492,288
1,196,291
322,947
1.91
1.52
Kindergarten (official)
8,600
1,119
258,000
33,570
170,360
43,920
1.51
0.76
Primary
35,829
9,497
1,074,870
284,910
558,640
181,640
1.92
1.57
Intermediate
14,191
2,998
340,584
71,952
195,024
47,844
1.75
1.5
Secondary
25,239
4,244
605,736
101,856
272,267
49,543
2.22
2.11

Sources: CBS, Statistical Abstract of Israel 2001, tables 8.9, 8.26; Yosef Gidanian, Central Bureau of Statistics, e-mails to Human Rights Watch, June 18, 2001 and July 31, 2001; and Ministry of Education, Proposed Budget for the Ministry of Education 2001 and Explanations as Presented to the Fifteenth Knesset, no. 11, October 2000, p. 144.
 
 
 

Numerical Comparison of Jewish and Arab Education in Israel [UPDATED NOVEMBER 2001]
 
Jewish education
Arab education
Enrolled students (kindergarten-secondary) (2000-2001)
(total number)
77.8%

(1,250,000)
22.2%

(356,000)
Allocation of teaching hours (1999-2000)
(average weekly teaching hours/student)
82.4%
(1.91)
17.6%
(1.52)
Schools    
Average pupils/class (2000-2001)
25
30
Average children/teacher (1999-2000)
14.3
18.1
Distribution of classrooms (1998) 
(total number)
80.5% 
(34,747)
19.5% 
(8,423)
Schools with libraries (1994-1996)
80.7%
64.4%
Schools with educational counseling (1994-1996)
78.7%
36.2%
Schools with psychological counseling (1994-1996)
83.2%
40.0%
Schools with counseling by a social worker (1994-1996)
64.4%
53.7%
Schools with truant officers (1994-1996)
65.1%
53.7%
Teachers    
Teachers with an academic degree (1997-1998)
59.5%
39.7%
Teachers rated "not qualified"
4.1%
7.9%
Primary schools with voluntary in-service training (1994-1995)
87.9%
60.1%
Primary schools with no programs to improve teaching (1994-1995)
6.4%
21.5%
Kindergarten (ages 3-5)    
Kindergarten attendance (private, municipal, and state) (1999-2000)
age 3
age 4
age 5
81.9%
95.5%
90.1%
33.6%
43.0%
78.9%
Pupils/teaching staff: government kindergartens (1999-2000)
19.8
39.3
Special Education    
Distribution of teaching hours (total) (1999-2000)
85.9%
14.1%
Teaching hours for integration (mainstreaming) (1998-1999)
91.6%
8.4%
Special education kindergartens (1998-1999)
484 (91.5%)
45 (8.5%)
Integrated kindergartens (1998-1999)
61 (100%)
0 (0%)
Special education schools (excluding kindergartens) (1998-1999)
222 (83.5%)
44 (16.5%)
Students in primary schools for "handicapped children" (1999-2000)
13,165 (85.4%)
2,253 (14.6%)
Performance    
Drop-out rates by age seventeen (1999-2000)
11.8%
29.3%
Bagrut pass rate among all seventeen-year-olds (1999-2000)
45.6%
27.5%
Bagrut pass rate among examinees
63.0%
43.4%
Qualification rate for university admission among all seventeen-year-olds (1999-2000)
40.4%
18.4%
University applicants who were rejected (1998-1999)
16.7%
44.7%
University students studying for first (undergraduate) degree (1998-1999)
91.3%
8.7%
University first degree recipients (1998-1999)
94.3%
5.7%

Sources:
CBS, Statistical Abstract of Israel 2001, tables 8.8-8.11, 8.26; Ministry of Education, "Number of Students in Jewish Education and Arab Education" (Hebrew), http://207.232.9.131/minhal_calcala/download/2.pdf (accessed November 9, 2001); Ministry of Education, "Statistics of the Matriculation Examination (Bagrut) 2000 Report," http://www.netvision.net.il/bagrut/netunim2000.htm (accessed on May 10, 2001), pp. 5, 7, 45; State of Israel Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Initial Periodic Report of the State of Israel Concerning the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), February 20, 2001, p. 307; Daphna Golan, Chair, Committee for Closing the Gap, Pedagogical Secretariat, Ministry of Education, Closing the Gaps in Arab Education in Israel: Data About Hebrew-Arab Education; Recommendations of the Committee for Closing the Gap; Protocol of the Meeting of the Directorship, December 13, 2000, December 2000, p. 3; Ministry of Education, Proposed Budget for the Ministry of Education 2001 and Explanations as Presented to the Fifteenth Knesset, no. 11, October 2000, pp. 144, 158; CBS, Statistical Abstract of Israel 2000, no. 51; CBS, Survey of Education and Welfare Services 1995/1996: Secondary Schools, Hebrew and Arab Education, (Jerusalem: CBS, May 1999); CBS, Survey of Education and Welfare Services 1994/1995: Primary and Intermediate Schools, Hebrew and Arab Education, (Jerusalem: CBS, October 1997).

1 At the primary level, the data reflect financing from the Ministry of Education only. CBS, Statistical Abstract of Israel 2000, p. (104). At the intermediate and secondary levels, the data reflect funding from parents and local authorities in addition to ministry funding. Yosef Gidanian, Central Bureau of Statistics, e-mail to Human Rights Watch, June 18, 2001.

2 See the appendix for a chart of how these data were calculated.

3 The number of teachers is measured in work units-the number of hours per week that constitute a full teaching post. Thus, two half-time positions would be counted as one full-time position. Work hours include "teaching hours, administration hours, hours of educational guidance and other tasks at school." CBS, "Introduction to `Education and Culture,'" Statistical Abstract of Israel 2000, p. (104).  These numbers exclude teaching posts in primary schools financed by local educational authorities and parents. Ibid., p. (104) and table 22.8.