Today (Sunday) was the first day of school for most of Israel - a day earlier than usual, because of last year's strikes - and 1.7 million children spent the morning back behind their desks. Almost 7% of them, 118,000 pupils, began first grade. 13,000 policemen and 5,000 guards guarded them, and will continue to do for the next two days; tragically, one of the guards was killed after school ended when his partner accidentally fired off a bullet while attempting to unload his gun.
Despite the threat of strikes from several directions - including the largest teachers union in the country, local parents unions, and town councils - only in a few areas did schools not open today. The mini-strikes affected only 1% of the country's student body. Some Druze community schools are on strike in the framework of the ongoing protest against the planned municipalities merger plan. Some 200 teachers and workers in the Agricultural School in Pardes Chana, near Hadera, prevented the school from opening today in protest of the fact that they have not yet been paid for July. In the northern coastal city of Acre (Acco), parents decided not to send their children - except those in nurseries and the religious-public Noam school - because of the removal of their city from the list of "secondary preferred areas." Some Christian-Arab schools will not open until tomorrow.
A strike threat that appeared serious was that of the northern border communities, which planned not to open schools throughout the north. Their gripe: the lack of security in the institutions, and the large education budget cuts. The schools opened today, however, but the threat is on again for next week if no solution is found.
The N'vei Tirtzah women's prison, for the first time, granted 12-hour furloughs to seven prisoners so that they could accompany their children on their first day of school. Prison Commander Miki Volkon explained, "It's important for us that their children feel the same as their friends on the first day of school and have their mothers bring them to school."
Despite the threat of strikes from several directions - including the largest teachers union in the country, local parents unions, and town councils - only in a few areas did schools not open today. The mini-strikes affected only 1% of the country's student body. Some Druze community schools are on strike in the framework of the ongoing protest against the planned municipalities merger plan. Some 200 teachers and workers in the Agricultural School in Pardes Chana, near Hadera, prevented the school from opening today in protest of the fact that they have not yet been paid for July. In the northern coastal city of Acre (Acco), parents decided not to send their children - except those in nurseries and the religious-public Noam school - because of the removal of their city from the list of "secondary preferred areas." Some Christian-Arab schools will not open until tomorrow.
A strike threat that appeared serious was that of the northern border communities, which planned not to open schools throughout the north. Their gripe: the lack of security in the institutions, and the large education budget cuts. The schools opened today, however, but the threat is on again for next week if no solution is found.
The N'vei Tirtzah women's prison, for the first time, granted 12-hour furloughs to seven prisoners so that they could accompany their children on their first day of school. Prison Commander Miki Volkon explained, "It's important for us that their children feel the same as their friends on the first day of school and have their mothers bring them to school."