The Prime Minister's Conference for the Minority Sector

Main points of the government's plan for the promotion and development of education in the Arab sector:

• The changes in education in the Arab sector are part of the larger trends in the Ministry of Education, and especially the "New Horizon" reform being implemented in Israel's primary schools.
  
• The Ministry of Education is aware of the gap between Jews and Arabs and acknowledges the need to address it. Nevertheless, this gap is not only the result of the disproportionate allocation of resources on the part of the Ministry, but also of the inability of Arab local government and families to match the private investments in education of Jewish local government and families.
  
• The "New Horizon" reform allocates more class hours, allows for more one-on-one teacher-student time, and allocates more resources for staff meetings. Moreover, it supports stronger and weaker students, improves teachers' conditions and quality, and allocates more resources to the development of physical infrastructure, specifically in the Arab sector.
  
• "New Horizon" prioritizes the periphery in general, and the Arab sector in particular, based on the understanding that advancing Arab students will minimize socio-economic gaps in education and in society.
  
• Over the past year, four committees that included Jews and Arabs dealt with the level of achievement in Arab schools, curriculums, learning disabilities, and infrastructure (with an emphasis on the huge shortages in classrooms and kindergartens).
  
• The entire forum stressed the importance of results – committees are a blessed venture, but in this case (as in many others), their full potential was not realized and the forum is concerned that many of the recommendations were not acted upon.
  
• Mr. Kamal abu-Elkian, principal of a school in the Bedouin town of Hura, showed how "New Horizon" could, in fact, be implemented very successfully. He explained how curriculums were upgraded, private lessons were added, the quality of teachers improved, and the computer facilities were renewed – all this on top of a pay raise and better conditions for teachers.

The Forum's Responses:

• The Ministry has offered solutions for immediate challenges facing the Arab sector, but there is no long-term strategy that can resolve the questions of the nature of the Arab education system and higher education, and especially the issue of teacher training, while taking into considerations national, historical, cultural and linguistic considerations.
  
• The forum was unanimous in its call for Arab intellectuals and academics to increase their involvement in the education system. There were some disagreements as to the nature of their involvement – on the one hand, there were those who thought Arabs should be included in the process of formulating education policy and deciding the contents of the curriculum (historical narrative, literary sources, etc.), while on the other hand, there were those who wished to create a separate autonomous education system. 
  
• Existing programs do not resolve the issue of racism, which is ever present among both Jewish and Arab youths, and no one is actively dealing with this issue. Nonetheless, the Ministry of Education has been aware of this phenomenon for years, and several attempts to minimize it have failed. The Ministry has recently appointed a committee to design  new policy to deal with the issue of racism.
  
• The situation of Arabs with academic degrees is not good. Thousands of young Arabs have acquired a B.Ed. and cannot find work. This issue must be addressed by the government, and the Arab graduates must be incorporated into the Israeli economy.
  
• It was clear to all the forum members that the Arab sector must have the proper tools for integrating into Israeli and global markets, specifically in the areas of technology and science.
  
• This conference must also address the way that the Jewish population views the Arab population, the Jewish education system and the Arab counterpart. A special emphasis must be placed on teaching the Arabic language in Jewish schools, on incorporating Arab students into Jewish schools, and on founding additional mixed schools.
  
• Despite wide support for the government's plans for strengthening education in the Arab sector, many forum members doubt that they will be fully implemented in the long term because of  the frequent change of governments every few years.
  
• The infrastructural solutions offered by the Ministry of Education can only solve part of the problem because they are based only on birthrate statistics, and ignore other issues. Be it as it may, the forum is aware that the scope of this investment is unprecedented.
  
• There was a call on the Arab leadership to discuss other issues besides discrimination and deprivation, which are sources of frustration among Arab teachers and students. Arab leaders must also emphasize successes and achievements, such as the recent success story of Haifa's Arabs (according to Yona Yahav, Mayor of Haifa, Arab students scored higher than Jewish students on the 2007 matriculation exams).
  
• Most participants of the forum see an unprecedented measure of sincerity in the current government's efforts to deal with the gaps between Jews and Arabs, particularly in the field of education. Nonetheless, much work lies ahead.

PM's Representatives:

• Intel – Mr. Yossi Schneckler spoke about the successful employment of many Arab academics by Intel Israel Ltd.
  
• Galil Software – Mr. Said Inas, CEO of the Galil-based company is another example of high-placed Arabs in the high-tech industry.

Forum Responses:

• All of the speakers from the business sector congratulated the government on the initiative itself, and on its attempt to promote Arab involvement in the business sector, which is backed by the allocation of government funds. A special emphasis was made on the importance of the authority that is being founded, as well as on the importance of the equity fund – the first major project for promoting business in the Arab sector. Forum members also praised the high level of cooperation among the government, the business sector and the private sector.
  
• One of the fundamental issues that came up was that the various tools for promoting business initiatives and employment are not always suitable to the Arab sector and are not always efficient and effective. It is important to adapt criteria to the Arab investor and promote the provision of rapid and effective tools by government ministries in order to increase the chances of a real change in the Arab sector.  
  
• Another point that was raised by several speakers was that there is a serious problem of accessibility to the tools government ministries make available to Arab investors, entrepreneurs and employees. In order to make these tools more effective, it is important to make them more accessible.
  
• Various suggestions for strengthening the ties between the business sector and government ministries were offered, which were based on the assumption that businesses are often more effective than the government because of its complicated bureaucracy.
  
• Throughout the discussion, several speakers addressed the potential advantages that the Arab sector may have in different areas, which should be particularly promoted – such as village-tourism and high-tech.
  
• It is imperative that the PM call upon the Jewish business sector to overcome psychological barriers and invest in the Arab sector. This sector is full of unrealized potential and high-quality human resources. This is a real opportunity to improve Israel's economy, and start a growth-engine while minimizing socio-economic gaps in Israeli society.
  
• Three years ago, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor initiated an employment track, which turned out to be very successful. The track is no longer funded as a result of budgetary issues, and the forum called on the Ministry to revive the program.
  The forum praised the Accountant General, who has announced the possibility of removing obstacles that make the tenders under his auspices inaccessible to Arab investors.

Forum's Recommendations:

• Convene the heads of the Arab municipalities together with the Minister, the CEO, and the executive staff of the Ministry of Interior within one month to discuss all of the issues that were not addressed at the conference. Following the discussion, participants will be divided into teams that will formulate plans on a variety of issues.
  
• Examine the possibility of economic recovery plans that will include cooperation with other government offices. Because part of the problem is that budgets are allocated for specific purposes, cooperation can facilitate procuring funds for recovery plans under the auspices of specific offices. Arye Bar suggests setting up a forum to deal with matching funds, for which the PM's Office will be responsible.
  
• Establish functional cooperation between municipalities: joint industrial areas that can stabilize the financial situations of municipalities, as well as joint trash collection.
  
• Increase budget allocations to development: municipalities that are in the midst of recovery programs have difficulty receiving loans and, therefore, the Treasury should provide credit to solve the problem immediately.
  
• Examine a request to found Arab "community villages."
  
• Improve services.
  
• The Gadish Formula: full funding to replace credit as part of a short-term solution to the financial crises.