Israel's Education Crisis - Prof. Dan Ben-David
While Israel’s leading universities are excellent and its hi-tech sector flourishing, the country has one of the lowest productivity levels and the highest poverty rates in the developed world. With roughly half of its children receiving a Third World education, future economic sustainability is not a foregone conclusion. The knowledge needed to raise Israel to viable economic trajectories exists within its borders. But an extremely inadequate education system is unable to channel this knowledge effectively to the primary and secondary schools, which in turn limits the ability to enter quality institutions of higher learning. Professor Ben David will highlight aspects of education’s economic impact and focus on a number of misconceptions about the state of education in Israel. He will provide an assessment of the failings, achievements, future prospects, and critical importance of Israel’s educational system.
Professor Dan Ben-David is the president and founder of the Shoresh Institution and a senior faculty member of the Department of Public Policy at Tel-Aviv University. He is the former executive director of the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies.