Education

Promoting equality in education is critical to breaking the cycle of poverty, bridging economic and social gaps and ultimately, creating a shared society. Educational gaps between Israeli Jews and Arabs are evident from early childhood through higher education. Inequalities in education manifest in unequal allocation of budgets, lack of sufficient classrooms, laboratories or sports facilities, dropout rates, education achievements (matriculation rates) and funds for special education . It is well-established that education performance affects all components of quality of life and society including income, health, crime and GDP, weighing heavily on the entire Israeli society.

Within the area of education, the SVF supports programs and initiatives within Arab communities that promote educational opportunity and success for young adults. Programs focus on early childhood education, joint educational programs, high-school graduation rates, volunteerism and leadership development, higher education opportunities and educational leadership and planning.

Current Grantees

NEW: The Abraham Fund Initiatives (TAFI)
Contemporary Jewish-Hebrew Cultural Activities in Arab Schools
TAFI advances coexistence, equality and cooperation among Israel’s Jewish and Arab populations.  The Contemporary Jewish-Hebrew Cultural Activities program introduces Jewish cultural activities including Jewish holidays, music and film into 5th and 6th grade classes in 68 Arab elementary schools with the goal of increasing appreciation of Jewish culture, and providing meaningful opportunities for joint projects between Jewish and Arab schools.

Alnuhud: The Association for the Promotion of Bedouin Woman's Education in the Negev
The Pre-Academic Project
Alnuhud promotes general and higher education among Bedouin women, the rights of women to education in the Bedouin community and the government's commitment to promote and support for Bedouin women's education. The Pre-Academic Project works to increase the number of Bedouin women who graduate from high school with a full diploma, and to increase the number of Bedouin women entering academia, by providing academic tutoring, mentoring and social assistance to Bedouin students in 10th through 12th grades.

NEW: The Center for Educational Technology (CET)
Shared Life Training Programs for Civics Teachers and Social Coordinators 
The CET is Israel’s leading organization involved in the development and implementation of educational content, advanced technologies, and next generation learning products, services and programs to advance Israel’s education system.  The Shared Life Training Program trains Jewish and Arab civics teachers and social coordinators using dialogue and in-depth learning to deepen the knowledge of the civics curricula and the pedagogical knowledge of civics teachers in coping with challenges in the classrooms and integrating shared life activities in the schools. 

NEW: The Center for Educational Technology (CET)
Joint Shared Life Training Programs for Arab and Jewish School Principals
The Joint Shared Life Training Program for Principals brings together Jewish and Arab principals from elementary, middle and high schools in the mixed cities of Ramla and Lod to strengthen shared life education, engage in joint projects, and create a culture of tolerance and respect in schools. 

NEW: The Center for Educational Technology (CET)
Development, Training and Implementation of “Arab Labor” Online Educational Kit  
CET will develop, train and disseminate an online educational kit utilizing clips from the TV show, Arab Labor.  The training will include materials and courses for educators including Jewish and Arab teachers, principals, social activity coordinators and shared citizenship programs in middle and high schools to promote shared society and address controversial issues in classroom settings.

NEW:  Hand in Hand: Center for Jewish-Arab Education for Equality and Hagar: Jewish-Arab Education for Equality
Creating a Coalition for Bilingual Education in Israel
HAGAR: Jewish-Arab Education for Equality is a spring-board for social change through its bilingual, multicultural day care centers, school and community programming based in Beersheva. Hand in Hand: Center for Jewish-Arab Education in Israel is a network of four integrated, bilingual schools combining peace education and top academic standards. Currently six Jewish-Arab bilingual schools exist throughout Israel, and Hand in Hand is slated to open another new school in 2013 in Tel Aviv-Jaffa. The Bilingual Education Principals’ Coalition will bring together the senior staff of bilingual educational frameworks in the six bilingual schools (Hagar, Neve Shalom and Hand in Hand Schools in Jerusalem, Kfar Kara, the Galilee and Haifa) to learn from each other, share issues and insights, and develop concepts and methodologies together in the field of bilingual education. The Bilingual Education Curriculum Development Forum is comprised of pedagogical coordinators and experts from each school which will produce, publish, implement and evaluate a fully developed curricular module in religious and cultural heritage and other subjects.

Joint Distribution Committee - Israel and the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties
Promoting Professional Leadership Development in the Early Childhood Field

The Professional Leadership Development Program is a partnership between JDC - Ashalim, the Association for Planning and Development of Services for Children and Youth at Risk and their Families, and the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties. The Program provides promising Israeli-Arab professionals in the early childhood field with a summer preparatory course at the Hebrew University, in addition to critical academic reinforcement, mentorship and scholarship assistance towards their Master’s Degree in an Early Childhood Education at the Hebrew University’s prestigious Schwartz Graduate Program. The long term goal is to ensure that Israeli Arab communities will benefit from an influx of graduate level professionals with advanced academic qualifications and field experience who will be able to transform the field of early childhood.

MERCHAVIM: The Institute for the Advancement of Shared Citizenship in Israel 
The Integration of Arab-Israeli Teachers in the Jewish-Israeli School System

MERCHAVIM's mission is to help Israel’s 7.5 million citizens to live together better by learning about each other, valuing diversity, developing a shared civic awareness and cooperating to make their classrooms, communities and Israeli society as a whole, fairer and more cohesive. The Integration of Arab-Israeli teachers in the Jewish-Israeli School System program integrates Arab teachers in Jewish schools in order to address the lack of teachers in a range of subjects, to advance the economic integration of the Arab-Israeli minority in Israeli society, and to promote positive attitude change and improve relations between Jewish and Arab-Israeli communities.

Merkaz Ma'ase
Volunteer Year for Israeli Arab Youth Ages 18-21 in the Israeli Arab Periphery

Ma’ase works to broaden the accessibility of volunteering service and leadership activity to youth all over the state of Israel; to create optimal professional frameworks for over 700 volunteers who take part in the year-long community service; and to have national influence on the volunteering service – through cooperative relationships with youth movements, social organizations and government offices. The Afak Volunteer Year Program for Israeli Arab youth is performed in volunteer’s local communities and consists of long term, professional volunteering in the fields of  formal and informal education, developing personal and leadership skills, improving scholastic achievements and defining future academic and career goals and ambitions.

Arab Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation (AJEEC) – Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development (NISPED)
The Arab-Jewish Community Volunteer Year Program

NISPED promotes peace and development and the centrality of civil society in Israel through education and training, project development, consultation and networking. The Arab-Jewish Community Volunteer Year Program is a joint initiative of NISPED, AJEEC, and Tzofim (the Israeli Scouts Movement) that brings together Bedouin and Jewish high school graduates for a year-long, joint community volunteer program. Volunteers provide educational support and social enrichment to elementary and middle schools students and hospitalized children. The goal of the program is to make a significant contribution to the development of a pluralistic, just, civil society in Israel and to promote cooperation and understanding between Jews and Arab citizens of Israel.

Rashi Foundation – Yeholot Association
Tafnit-Last Hurdle for Matriculation Program

Rashi’s mission is to assist the underprivileged in Israel, focusing on the younger generations and special-needs populations, helping them reach their true potential and become productive, contributing members of society. Tafnit (Hebrew for "turnaround") aims to close the educational gap between underachievers and their classmates, and to reduce the disparity between low-performing schools in weak communities and schools in the center of the country. Tafnit targets 10th-12th grade students failing in one subject, and provides them with tutoring, study skills and mentoring to overcome their obstacle subject and achieve a full matriculation diploma. At the same time, Tafnit gives principals and teachers valuable tools to assist all their students fulfill their potential.

Sami Shamoon College of Engineering
100 Bedouin Engineers Program

The Sami Shamoon College of Engineering (SCE) is the largest engineering college in Israel, and is Israel's fastest growing academic college, with 3,000 students. The College's vision focuses on practical engineering training with an eye toward global industrial developments and the Israeli economy. The 100 Bedouin Engineers Program aims to recruit 100 young Bedouin men and women to complete their undergraduate engineering degree by 2017. The SVF Scholarship Fund supports tuition, academic and social assistance, stipends and travel expenses for up to a 3-year period. The program is currently in its fifth year, supporting over 100 Bedouin students, about one-third of whom are female

Step Forward for the Promotion of Education in Rahat
Community Creating Change for Youth in Rahat

Step Forward strives to empower the Israeli Bedouin population in the city of Rahat and improve its social and economic status by providing better educational opportunities for children and youth, economic independence to Bedouin women, and community-ownership. Community Creating Change for Youth in Rahat targets Bedouin high school students and promotes access to higher education opportunities through college guidance counseling, college fairs and tours, and educational enrichment programming.

Past Grantees

Citizens Build a Community
Arab Community Service Project

Citizens Build a Community creates an active civil society in the mixed city of Lod, which suffers from ethnic friction, poverty and lack of social empowerment. Citizens Build a Community establishes neighborhood youth centers, empowers local residents, and develops local leadership.

Capacity Building Grantees

Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli-Arab Issues

The Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues generates awareness among the North American Jewish and Israeli public in order to advance civic equality in Israel, as outlined by Israel's founders.

Shatil, the New Israel Fund
Capacity building support for select grantees

Shatil, the New Israel Fund's empowerment and training center promotes democracy, tolerance, and social justice in Israel. Israel's leading capacity building center for social change organizations, Shatil provides non-profit organizations with consulting and training in organizational development, media and public relations, advocacy, resource development, coalition building, and volunteer management each year.