Education Ministry Director General Yigal Slovik on Wednesday insisted that schools do not create outbreaks of coronavirus.
In an interview with 103 FM Radio, Slovik said, "This day is important for all of us, and more than anything else, it symbolizes that the Education Minister, Coronavirus Cabinet members, government, and Prime Minister placed the education of Israel's children above all else. I think that it is appropriate to start the school year, and that we needed to do this. We are committed to our children's future - and it depends on our education."
"Yesterday I visited the city of Elad, and once every 48 hours I conduct a situational assessment of the events in the haredi sector, and I want to tell you that this issue is completely managed and controlled. Some of the haredi institutions were closed and in other places we take actions to sample and expand the vaccination drive.
"Today, the school system opened with 2.5 million students; 250,000 of them are at home and will not come to school. Some of them are confirmed to have coronavirus, some of them are in quarantine, and some of them are doing distance learning because the percentage of vaccinated individuals in their class is right now under 70%. The school is not a place of contagion, and not a place which creates infections."
"There are vaccine mobiles operated by the Home Front Command, which will arrive at 52 schools today, and tomorrow we will offer vaccinations in other towns. There were questions on whether the parents will cooperate and conduct the home tests. But we certainly are relying on the parents. Because that's how we will need to live throughout the entire coming year, and we will manage it in accordance with the plan which we drafted. I am saying it now: There will be schools which we will have to close throughout the year. In the past week alone, we closed three schools in the haredi sector."
"I think that we are ready, and that we are well-prepared. We are starting the school year after a situational assessment this morning, when we saw a small number of issues - the parents are bringing their children to schools. We are working in complete cooperation with the haredi sector and we are in constant dialogue with the directors general of the school networks in the education sector. I don't think we've failed in anything."