“Afraid of anarchy, we must not be in this place”

In fact, you are facing a kind of rebellion of authorities.
“I think that whoever is in the kind of rebellion of authorities is the Ministry of Education, the government. It is not us. But no doubt, I think this phenomenon also has no place. It is impossible to give place to such a situation, as anarchy or ‘an honest man will do.’

Why? These are people who have proven management experience.
“Now we are in the health section. The one who has to decide to return the students in seventh-tenth grades is the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education and not the mayors, with all due respect to them – and I have a lot of respect. I understand their plight.”

You have respect, but what do you tell them?
“They talked to me even today. Some of them talked to me in the morning and I explained to them and I told them, listen, the one who employs us is the Ministry of Education. With all due respect we can not get instructions from heads of authorities who are not our employers.”

How long in advance did you know about reading this challenge?
“I read just like everyone else read.”

And how much did that surprise you?
“Surprised me? Let’s say it did not surprise me. I see many cases where every head of authority pulls in one direction or another. This is something that must not happen.”

These are 15 mayors with a lot of experience, who are doing epidemiological investigations, know their city, who assure us that if there is a sick child who comes to school, we will know and we will close. What are you afraid of?
“From anarchy, one intellect will do what’s in his head. It is impossible, there must be someone who will include this whole event. So I want to say again that I understand the plight of the mayors, I understand the plight of the parents and also the plight of the teachers. But friends, With all due respect, there is the Ministry of Health that has to decide on the issue of health and there is the Ministry of Education that has to decide on the issue of education. And once they have decided that it needs to be returned – we will happily return the children. But other factors that are not relevant in the decision will one day stand up and say ‘ “This is ‘return. We are returning,’ and we are putting both the principals and the teaching staff in a very embarrassing and very dangerous situation. We must not be in this place.”

We are on the eve of Purim, although it is a bit behind us, but there is a kind of treatment of everyone for the Israeli holidays in the context of the teachers.
“The issue of vacations is really outrageous. It’s like vacations are coming down from the sky, vacations are pre-arranged and I want to tell you something very important. Friends, teaching staff work harder than any normal year. Holidays for the teaching staff are oxygen. It’s the time they can rest and gather strength To come with fresh and new forces to their blessed endeavor. “

I have to ask you something about the Minister of Health. You have given him a lot of support here now, much more than the heads of the local government. If I look at a year’s perspective, I know who performed better. So you may be choosing the least effective path for students in the education system?
“I repeat, the one who trusts the health of the students and the teaching staff today is the Ministry of Health. As soon as the Ministry of Health says that the students can be returned and in some two-day outline, of several hours …”.

There is no outline, he does not know an outline. You trust the Ministry of Health, which has no outline.
“True, but he has to decide, the one who has to decide and trust the health is the Ministry of Health.”

Hear you in the Ministry of Health, listen to you in the Ministry of Health?
“We have a dialogue with a number of very senior officials in the Ministry of Health.”

Including the Minister?
“Yes, including the minister. Including CEO Hezi Levy and Dr. Elrai Price, we have a dialogue.”

I heard you say ‘do not talk to us, do not hear us, do not hear the needs of the kindergarten teacher in the field. Do not hear the needs of the school principal who has already four or five times arranged a system. So maybe you really are not listened to in the Ministry of Health?
“I really resent the fact that even once in the cabinet they did not invite a teacher, not a director, nor the teachers’ union. Let’s invite people from the field. Invite students, invite teachers, invite all the authorities, but rather the people who do the work, who are in the field? “Not once were we invited and not heard.”

If they had invited you to the Ministry of Health and not the Minister of Health, he would have asked you, what do you offer? Something that will suit the needs of the economy? Something that will of course suit the needs of the parents? And we have not even talked about the emotional state of Israel’s students.
“No doubt, that’s why they kept talking about distance learning and that it’s ineffective, yes effective … I want to tell you that I’m touring the field and I want to tell you that learning is very effective. I want to tell you that I went to first grade in one of the schools and saw children reading “It’s wonderful and I saw children in first grade who also write wonderfully.”

Who took over remote writing and reading.
“Exactly, and the educator told me, ‘Let you know they learned to zoom in even faster than in class.'”

So what would you take from the corona?
“I think it is imperative to take the small groups. If the state really learns and takes the small classes from the corona, I tell you the education system will look different.”

Do not go back, you say.
“By no means. We brought back grades one through four and I want to tell you that the gaps have been greatly reduced – and they are even progressing in material thanks to the small grades. That’s what needs to be taken. Reduce frontal hours, overload.”

Not only that, the frontal hours is the world of yesterday?
“Right”.

I have to ask you a question. You had a difficult year, but a year in which you probably understood something about your strength. How much can we sit and expect to see the MK, Yaffa Ben David? Are you beautiful Minister Ben David in the future?
“Look, I am first and foremost in the teachers’ union and my ambitions are to promote the status of the teacher, to promote his salary and what is now on the doorstep is the issue of a new collective wage agreement. I will do everything possible to bring a really good and beneficial agreement.” To the system, and good forces will remain in the system. And as I said, the issue of frontal hours. We are constantly given the OECD as an example and say ‘learn from them’. No problem, let’s make a copy-paste on what is happening in the OECD countries, I sign you “For everything you want. Both in terms of salary, both in terms of learning, also in terms of overcrowding in classrooms and kindergartens.”