The OECD is highly critical of education in Israel in its 2013 Education at a Glance report, but nonetheless says that Israelis are highly educated. The report states that the average primary school class size in Israel is six pupils more than the OECD average, making classes in Israel among the most crowded in OECD member states. It also states that salary of primary school teachers is 71% of the OECD average.
Government expenditure on primary school pupils is well below the OECD average. Teachers' class time, before the Oz Latmura reform, is also a fraction of the OECD average. Israeli primary school teachers have less instruction time than their peers in most OECD countries.
On the other hand, Israel's enrolment rate is almost 9% above the OECD average. The OECD says that the high proportion of schoolchildren is not just due to demographics, but also due to a low dropout rate.
In the section on Israel, the OECD says, "Israel ranks second among OECD countries for the proportion of 5-14 year-olds in its total population, with 18% compared with an OECD average of 12.5%. The 5-29 year-old population makes up 41% of Israel’s total population, placing it just below Mexico (47%) and Turkey (44%) and well above the OECD average of 33%. Although access to education for 5-14 year-olds is universal, Israel, Mexico and Turkey are the three OECD countries with enrolment rates for 15-19 year-olds below 65%, almost 20 percentage points below the OECD average of 84%.
"Nonetheless, Israel’s population is well educated. Israel ranks second among OECD countries (tied with Japan and just after Canada) for the percentage of 25-64 year-olds that have achieved tertiary education: 46% compared with an OECD average of 32%. The share of 25-64 year-olds with at least an upper secondary education is 83%, well above the OECD average of 75%, while at the same time, the proportion of those with only an elementary education is well below the OECD average, 17% compared with 25% across OECD countries.
"Israel’s annual expenditure per student from primary through tertiary education, including R&D, of over $6,500 in 2010 was almost one-third less than the OECD average of $9,313, and was the eighth lowest expenditure per student of OECD countries. Despite this, Israel ranks fifth in the OECD in expenditure on educational institutions as a percentage of GDP, at 7.4% in 2010, 1.1 percentage points more than the OECD average. Although the expenditure per student is not particularly high, Israel’s relatively large youthful population explains the total level of expenditure."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 25, 2013
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2013