Teachers strike deal with government after being forced into unpaid leave

Online learning for elementary and middle school students will cease tomorrow, just five days after it began due to the coronavirus outbreak that has shuttered schools across the country.

The Israel Teacher Union has reached an agreement with the Finance Ministry, which will see 180,00 teachers be given paid vacation time through the Passover holiday in April.

In exchange, the union agrees to cut the fall holiday vacation break from 14 days to 10 days. In addition, the summer vacation will be shortened by nine days and the day off given for the Lag Ba’Omer holiday in May will also be rescinded.

If the coronavirus guidelines requiring schools to remain closed are extended beyond the Lag Ba’Omer holiday, the fall holiday vacation will be cut by an additional two days as part of the deal.

Beginning tomorrow, elementary and middle school teachers will only be allowed to continue online lessons on a voluntary basis. On Sunday, when the remote learning began, teachers had been instructed to lead the lessons, despite being placed on unpaid leave.

The agreement does not cover high schools, where teachers have been instructed to continue online and remote learning until a deal is reached between their union representative and the Finance Ministry.

A separate agreement reached by the Council for Higher Education and the Finance Ministry will see the spring semester extended into the summer vacation period in order to make up for time lost due to the coronavirus. Online courses for university students will continue as planned.

Education Ministry officials believe that with the conclusion of the coronavirus crisis, they will see significant budget cuts that will likely be reflected in teacher pay-cuts and layoffs, The Marker business daily reported.

— Jacob Magid