Avraham Sapir, the father of Yiftah Sapir, of blessed memory, who was killed in 2012 during a school trip, took part in a hearing at the Committee for the Rights of the Child which dealt with the 'dangers of school trip routes.'
The head of the Committee, MK Yifat Shasha-Biton(Kulanu) opened the discussion by saying that "school trips are of great educational and social value and enhance love of our homeland.
"Despite this, as a mother and educator I felt great trepidation when my children were before a school trip because I knew the challenging routes they would face. I wonder how it is that over the course of the years there has not been a discussion of the various routes and the need for changes. Times have changed as well as teacher's authority and other diversions like cellphones exist. Trips should also take into account people with handicaps who are streamed into regular institutions."
The bereaved father said at the hearing that the state's institutions do not invest enough in Israeli children. "In the pictures of my son's evacuation it can be seen that the Arava evacuation team which came to evacuate my son and tried to save him all wore helmets. The children in Israel are not as important as the evacuation teams or construction workers(who wear helmets).
"If Yiftach had been wearing a helmet he would be alive today. Whatever is important is not done by the Ministry of Education- safety equipment like ropes and helmets for children, closure of routes which require inspection, Israeli children are not 'russian roulette.' We asked for advance excursions for teachers going on the trips, which would cover the entire route and would take place just before the trip, because routes change, in Yiftah's case a flash flood before the trip caused a change in the route."
"On the route on which Yiftah was killed, except for signs on the trail there wasn't anything, no ropes, no handholds, just a steep trail and crumbling stones. In some places the trail was just 20 cm wide.Yiftah went exactly according to the directions. I don't think that anybody can tell me that there aren't other routes like this one, since only this route was cancelled since then, but nobody can say that there aren't more routes on which our children will be killed in the future," said Sapir.
Raheli Hakohen from the National Council for the Child said that "steps must be taken to increase the proportion of escorts to children. Many accidents would have been prevented if there had been a larger proportion of escorts. Besides this the number of authorized routes should be decreased so that only those appropriate for all pupils at all levels will be authorized."
The head of the committee summarized the discussion by saying that "there is a difference between going on a trip with masses of children and going on a family trip. I call on the Education Ministry to sit and analyze once again the routes and choose the ones suited to everyone. Schools should be directed to choose each year the routes which are suitable for them and to take a staff member for a full preparatory trip. As for the subject of protection we ought to assess how safety equipment could be integrated, especially in climbing trips."