Parents in the above Negev areas are refusing to send their children to schools vulnerable to Kassam rockets.
The number of students beginning school in Israel today totals 1,755,000 - up 1% from last year. Some 122,000 teachers in 3,900 schools will attempt to give them of their knowledge and values.
Tens of thousands of yeshiva high school students and Talmud Torah pupils began their studies last week, at the beginning of the Hebrew month of Elul.
Thousands of Magen David Adom and Civil Guard volunteers have descended upon the country's schools, disseminating information on road safety and helping police maintain order.
The school year has opened in Israel's prisons as well. Some 4,000 prisoners will take up their studies, learning either to read and write or otherwise completing their basic elementary or high school studies. In the Ofek Juvenile Prison, 25 classes will open today; 90% of the students there never studied in school before. 95% of last year's Ofek students passed their matriculation exams.
As is the case almost every school year, the opening was nearly postponed due to teachers' union demands. On Friday, however, an agreement was reached by Union head Ran Erez, Education Minister Yuli Tamir, and the Finance Ministry regarding an increase in the number of laid-off teachers eligible for retirement benefits and a small decrease in the number of fired teachers.
Approximately 18,000-20,000 students - just over 1% of the student body - did not begin school today, for various reasons. The lion's share of them are in Sderot and the nearby Shaar HaNegev (Negev Gateway) Regional Council, where parents refuse to send their children to school. They are protesting the government's failure to reinforce the schools against Kassam rocket attacks. As of now, the Sderot Municipality reports, only some 40% of the schools have been rocket-proofed.
Sderot Municipality spokesman Yossi Cohen told Arutz-7 that at least one large room in each of all six elementary schools has been protected, as have all 10 of the kindergartens; no work has been done on the local high schools.
Ten schools in Sderot will remain closed today, including the six partially protected elementary schools. Parents Committee head Batya Katar said that in addition to the strike, the Committee will file today a court suit against the Government of Israel and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, for "abandoning the children of Sderot." Katar said Olmert relates to Sderot as if it were not part of Israel.
Spokesman Cohen said the city "identifies" with a one-day parents' strike. He said that he does not know whether the parents plan to continue the strike tomorrow or not.
Gush Katif
For the former residents of Gush Katif, the beginning of this school year is an improvement over last year - when practically none of them had an organized school system in which to study. Most of them still, however, cannot walk to school.
The children of Atmonah and Netzarim who now live in Yated and Yevul, along the Egyptian border south of Gaza, are studying in the relocated Netzarim school in Yevul. A new girls' high school (ulpana) has been opened there this year as well, in addition to the N'vei Dekalim ulpana that relocated last year to Givat Washington near Yavneh.
The children of the Shomriyah contingent of Atzmonah, in the Lachish region, are studying in the reconstituted Atzmonah school in Shomriyah. Other Katif children from Amatziah, Shekef, Nitzan and elsewhere will also study there, despite the long distances involved.
What used to be the largest school in Gush Katif, the Neot Katif elementary school in N'vei Dekalim, is planned to be rebuilt in Nitzan. However, no buildings are currently available for the school, and it is therefore temporarily located in Shafir, adjacent to Ein Tzurim - another bastion of former Katifites - and a 25-minute drive from Nitzan.
Students from Kfar Darom, the northern Gush Katif community that relocated to a high-rise building in Ashkelon, will continue studying in their local school, which they have rebuilt in the same building.
The children of Yad Binyamin, the 2nd-largest community of Gush Katif exiles, are studying in various places, among them the local Yeshivat Torat HaChaim elementary school.
For post-high school students, the Yeshivat Hesder in N'vei Dekalim - that which was housed in the famous Jewish star-shaped building - will continue its studies in Kfar Maimon, until its new buildings in Ashdod are ready. Yeshivat Torah HaChaim, formerly of N'vei Dekalim, will continue in Yad Binyamin, and the pre-military yeshiva academy of Atzmonah will continue in Yevul.
The number of students beginning school in Israel today totals 1,755,000 - up 1% from last year. Some 122,000 teachers in 3,900 schools will attempt to give them of their knowledge and values.
Tens of thousands of yeshiva high school students and Talmud Torah pupils began their studies last week, at the beginning of the Hebrew month of Elul.
Thousands of Magen David Adom and Civil Guard volunteers have descended upon the country's schools, disseminating information on road safety and helping police maintain order.
The school year has opened in Israel's prisons as well. Some 4,000 prisoners will take up their studies, learning either to read and write or otherwise completing their basic elementary or high school studies. In the Ofek Juvenile Prison, 25 classes will open today; 90% of the students there never studied in school before. 95% of last year's Ofek students passed their matriculation exams.
As is the case almost every school year, the opening was nearly postponed due to teachers' union demands. On Friday, however, an agreement was reached by Union head Ran Erez, Education Minister Yuli Tamir, and the Finance Ministry regarding an increase in the number of laid-off teachers eligible for retirement benefits and a small decrease in the number of fired teachers.
Approximately 18,000-20,000 students - just over 1% of the student body - did not begin school today, for various reasons. The lion's share of them are in Sderot and the nearby Shaar HaNegev (Negev Gateway) Regional Council, where parents refuse to send their children to school. They are protesting the government's failure to reinforce the schools against Kassam rocket attacks. As of now, the Sderot Municipality reports, only some 40% of the schools have been rocket-proofed.
Sderot Municipality spokesman Yossi Cohen told Arutz-7 that at least one large room in each of all six elementary schools has been protected, as have all 10 of the kindergartens; no work has been done on the local high schools.
Ten schools in Sderot will remain closed today, including the six partially protected elementary schools. Parents Committee head Batya Katar said that in addition to the strike, the Committee will file today a court suit against the Government of Israel and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, for "abandoning the children of Sderot." Katar said Olmert relates to Sderot as if it were not part of Israel.
Spokesman Cohen said the city "identifies" with a one-day parents' strike. He said that he does not know whether the parents plan to continue the strike tomorrow or not.
Gush Katif
For the former residents of Gush Katif, the beginning of this school year is an improvement over last year - when practically none of them had an organized school system in which to study. Most of them still, however, cannot walk to school.
The children of Atmonah and Netzarim who now live in Yated and Yevul, along the Egyptian border south of Gaza, are studying in the relocated Netzarim school in Yevul. A new girls' high school (ulpana) has been opened there this year as well, in addition to the N'vei Dekalim ulpana that relocated last year to Givat Washington near Yavneh.
The children of the Shomriyah contingent of Atzmonah, in the Lachish region, are studying in the reconstituted Atzmonah school in Shomriyah. Other Katif children from Amatziah, Shekef, Nitzan and elsewhere will also study there, despite the long distances involved.
What used to be the largest school in Gush Katif, the Neot Katif elementary school in N'vei Dekalim, is planned to be rebuilt in Nitzan. However, no buildings are currently available for the school, and it is therefore temporarily located in Shafir, adjacent to Ein Tzurim - another bastion of former Katifites - and a 25-minute drive from Nitzan.
Students from Kfar Darom, the northern Gush Katif community that relocated to a high-rise building in Ashkelon, will continue studying in their local school, which they have rebuilt in the same building.
The children of Yad Binyamin, the 2nd-largest community of Gush Katif exiles, are studying in various places, among them the local Yeshivat Torat HaChaim elementary school.
For post-high school students, the Yeshivat Hesder in N'vei Dekalim - that which was housed in the famous Jewish star-shaped building - will continue its studies in Kfar Maimon, until its new buildings in Ashdod are ready. Yeshivat Torah HaChaim, formerly of N'vei Dekalim, will continue in Yad Binyamin, and the pre-military yeshiva academy of Atzmonah will continue in Yevul.