News Brief08:22 AM

(IsraelNN.com) Education Ministry officials have decided to keep Arabic in the core curriculum for middle and high school students until further notice.  Arabic was removed from the core curriculum earlier in the year as part of an attempt to streamline the curriculum and make it acceptable to the hareidi-religious community. 

Most hareidi-religious schools have rejected the core curriculum and prefer to operate as private schools with some government funding.  However, the Supreme Court recently ruled that the government cannot fund high schools that do not teach the core curriculum, a decision that would leave many hareidi-religious schools facing a budget crisis.

Arabic will continue to be taught as it is now until a new core curriculum is established and agreed upon, officials said.  Students in seventh, eighth, and ninth grades currently study Arabic for at least three hours a week.