Ed Ministry has no data on shelters in 50% of kindergartens; many schools lack protection — report

The Education Ministry does not possess any data on the existence of bomb shelters in about 50% of kindergartens, according to a new report by the Knesset Research and Information Center.

About 38% of schools have either no protection or only partial protection, the report says.

The report was compiled at the request of the Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee and is based on findings from the State Comptroller released in its audit of shelters in January.

According to the State Comptroller’s audit, the Ministry of Education lacks data for about 51% (10,975 classrooms) of kindergartens. For the remaining 49% (10,444 classrooms), the ministry assumes they are protected simply because they were built after 1992, when protection requirements took effect, but does not actually know since it has not been tracking the issue. Therefore, the number of unprotected kindergartens is likely much higher, it says.

The report notes that according to a ministry survey of 5,052 kindergarten classes, only 2,728 (approximately 54%) were actually found to have standard protection.

The ministry told the State Comptroller that it was in the process of contracting a company to collect updated information and map the status of all educational institutions, including kindergartens.

Meanwhile, 14% of Israeli schools have no protection, while 24% have partial protection. This means that about 466,000 students, comprising roughly one-quarter of the country’s students, lack adequate protection.

The State Comptroller noted, however, that 36% of the ministry’s data is outdated, having last been collected between 2018 and 2021.