Students return to studies at seven colleges after senior staff end strike

Labor court to help management reach pay deal with lecturers, who want same salaries as senior staff in universities

By ToI Staff 22 November 2018, 11:52 am

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Students pictured at Jerusalem's Hadassah Academic College, on December 16, 2014.(Maxim Dinshtein /Flash90

Students at seven public colleges of higher education began to return to their studies on Thursday after senior lecturers called off a strike over salaries that began last month.

The labor court, which mediated the strike’s end, will be involved in continued negotiations between the senior lecturers and college managements, with a deadline for a deal set for March.

Senior staff in public colleges want their pay to be brought into line with that of university professors.

The strike followed months of negotiations between them and the Council of Higher Education’s budgeting committee together with the Finance Ministry, which helps fund the colleges.

Illustrative image of an empty college lecture room. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)

The public college system, set up in the 1990s, focuses on educating students without also conducting the kind of research that pulls in money for universities.

Its purpose is to make higher education more accessible, particularly in periphery communities.

There are 36 academic colleges and 23 teachers’ colleges in the country. Over 55,000 students are enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs — more than the number of university students studying for their BAs.