Israel's home-grown danger

[Adsos Letter]

Source: Reuters

NEHALIM, Israel (Reuters) - Threats to Israel typically come in the form of rockets. But economists also see a profound risk to the state that is entirely within its control: its education system.

Inside a modern economy renowned for its innovative high-tech sector, they see a growing problem. Critics say the Jewish pupils who attend ultra-Orthodox schools can recite chapter and verse of the Bible, but most can't spell the name of their largest Arab neighbor, Egypt, in English.

About half of Israel's pupils either attend Arab schools that are under-funded, or ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminaries where "secular" subjects such as English, science and mathematics take a back seat to biblical studies, or are completely ignored.

It's a far-from-typical profile for a developed member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which Israel hopes to join formally in May.

"The threat we are facing, the existential threat, is not external. It's internal," said Daniel Ben-David of Tel Aviv University. "It's not even Arab versus Jew. It's a completely social problem."

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61F02K20100216

[nemo137]

1. So much like us, sadly.