Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday night that the school year will be extended this year until the end of July.
The extension applies for all grades and for all age groups.
“The gradual reopening of studies will take place in the coming days in green and yellow cities for grades seven through ten,” the prime minister said in a statement at the Education Ministry.
“The Education Minister and I are also taking steps to fill in the gaps in the curriculum by the repeated lockdowns,” he said.
“We must give children the opportunity to acquire what they have missed. We will take care of the teachers’ rights as well; I, along with the Ministers of Education and Finance take full responsibility to see to it that they are paid,” he promised.
“We will bring another 36 million vaccines in the coming year – enough to revaccinate the entire population twice.
Education Minister Yoav Galant added, “Today we begin a four-part plan to close gaps in the curriculum. . . In July, most of the effort will be focused on closing the gaps in mathematics, English, language and science, and the emotional effects of being in lockdown.”
In her response to the prime minister’s statement, Teachers’ Union Secretary Yaffa Ben-David said, however, that this year’s school will end on time, as planned.
“I would like to clarify that the position of the Teachers’ Union has not changed. The school year will end as planned on Wednesday, 30 June 2021.
Ben-David recommended the state “implement the summer school program, as it has done successfully in previous years.”