6 out of 10 Jerusalem teens don’t graduate high-school
Nationwide statistics reveal a widening gap between rich and poor, secular and religious
Only 41 percent of Jerusalem high school students passed their matriculation exams last year, according to statistics released Wednesday by the Education Ministry. The number represents a seven percent drop from 2010.
Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv the numbers showed an opposite trend, with 73% of teens matriculating, an increase of five percent from the previous year.
A broader view of the statistics nationwide revealed that matriculation success correlates closely with cities’ socioeconomic indicators. The numbers showed a widening education gap between prosperous cities in the center and poorer cities on the periphery of the country, and gaps between secular communities on one hand and ultra-Orthodox on the other.
The city of Shoham, near Ben Gurion Airport, led the country’s matriculation rankings, with 86.2% of students eligible for a high school diploma, followed by Kochav Yair (84.82%), the Hof Sharon Regional Council (82.2%), Kiryat Ono (81.5%) and Ra’anana (80.14%).
Cities with predominantly ultra-Orthodox citizens were ranked very low. Only 10% of students in Bnei Brak, Beitar Illit and Kiryat Sefer were eligible to receive a high school diploma.
Two weeks ago the Education Ministry revealed that there was a slight drop in overall student matriculation numbers, from 48.3% in 2010 to 48.1% in 2011.
