The Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies Center for the Study of Haredi Society Establishment of Haredi High-School Yeshivas in Israel Amiram Gonen, Bezalel Cohen, Meir Kraus, Yamit Naftali Eliezer Hayoun, Yo’ad Shahar 2016 The Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies Center for the Study of Haredi Society The Center is suppoted by UJA Federation of New York Establishment of Haredi High-School Yeshivas in Israel This project was supported by Maimonides Fund, UJA Federation of New York and The Russel Berrie Foundation © 2016, The Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies The Hay Elyachar House 20 Radak St., 9218604 Jerusalem Israel http: //www.haredisociety.org http://www.jiis.org http://www.jiis.org.il E-mail: [email protected] Table of Content Preface ............................................................................................................. 5 Executive Summary ........................................................................................... 7 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 17 1: Haredi education for boys: an analysis of the current situation ............. 21 1.1 Elementary education for boys ................................................................... 21 1.2 Haredi education for high school aged boys ............................................... 26 1.2.1 The yeshiva ketana............................................................................ 26 1.2.2 The Haredi high-school yeshiva ....................................................... 32 1.2.3 Other Haredi high schools ................................................................ 49 1.3 Dropping out of Haredi schools at high school age .................................... 51 2: Assessing the Potential for Establishing Haredi high-school yeshivas .... 55 2.1 Barriers facing Haredi high-school yeshivas .............................................. 55 2.1.1 Opposition and barriers on the institutional level ............................. 56 2.1.2 Barriers on the individual and family level ...................................... 65 2.2 Potential demand for Haredi high-school yeshivas .................................... 69 2.2.1 Demand characteristics, based on interviews with the heads of Haredi high-school yeshivas ......................................................... 70 2.2.2 Online survey to identify potential demand ...................................... 73 2.2.3 Interviewee remarks and suggestions ................................................ 87 2.3 The potential role of central government, local government, educational networks and other entities in promoting the establishment of Haredi high-school yeshivas ......................................... 101 2.4 An economic model for the Haredi high-school yeshiva ......................... 103 3: Objectives and Recommendations ............................................................113 3.1 Recommended model for Haredi high-school yeshivas ............................113 3.2 Recommended objectives for the system ..................................................115 3.3 Partnerships and roles ................................................................................117 3.4 Milestones for implementation ..................................................................119 3.5 Economic significance .............................................................................. 120 3.6 Further recommendations ......................................................................... 125 3.7 Implementation Steps ............................................................................... 125 Appendix A: Questionnaire on Haredi High-School Yeshivas ................... 127 List of Figures Figure 1.1: Institutions and Pupils in Haredi Elementary Education, by Institution status, 2014/15 ........................................................ 23 Figure 1.2: Number of Institutions and Students in Haredi Elementary Education, by Locality, 2014/15.................................................... 25 Figure 1.3: Number of Institutions and Students at yeshivot ketanot, by Locality, 2014/15 ...................................................................... 27 Figure 1.4: Number of Students in Haredi high-School Yeshivas, by School year, 1999/2000 – 2015/16 ........................................... 44 Figure 1.5: Number of Students by Haredi High-School Yeshivas in the 2015/16 School year ............................................................ 45 Figure 1.6: Haredi high-school yeshivas by economic status and social-cultural stream of target population .................................... 48 Figure 2.1: Deficit per Student in NIS, by Proportion of Residential Students ....................................................................................... 108 List of Tables Table 1.1: Institutions and Pupils in Haredi Elementary Education, by Legal status, 2014/15 ................................................................ 24 Table 1.2: Institutions and Students in Haredi Elementary Education, by Locality, 2014/15 ...................................................................... 24 Table 1.3: Students at yeshivot ketanot, by Grade, 2014/15 .......................... 26 Table 1.4: Institutions and Students at yeshivot ketanot, by Locality, 2014/15 .......................................................................................... 28 Table 1.5: Yeshivot ketanot, by Number of Students at Institution ................ 29 Table 1.6: Number of Students in Haredi high-School Yeshivas, by year, 1999/2000 – 2015/16 ....................................................... 44 Table 1.7: Number of Students by Haredi High-School Yeshivas, 2015/16 ......................................................................................... 45 Table 1.8: Dropouts from Haredi Education in Junior High School (Grades 7–8) and Senior High School Age Groups, by School Year, 2006/07-2010/11 ................................................. 53 Table 2.1: Respondents to the Question of Willingness to Send a Son to a High-school yeshiva by Type of Answer ................................ 74 Table 2.2: Respondents Actually or Potentially Willing to Send a Son to a Haredi High-School Yeshiva, by Reason ............................... 75 Table 2.3: Other Reasons for Willingness to Send Sons to a Haredi High-School Yeshiva ..................................................................... 77 Table 2.4: Respondents Actually or Potentially Willing to Send a Son to a Haredi High-School Yeshiva, by Age Group ......................... 78 Table 2.5: Respondents Actually or Potentially Willing to Send a Son to a Haredi High-School Yeshiva, by Father’s Occupation ........... 79 Table 2.6: Respondents Actually or Potentially Willing to Send a Son to a Haredi High-School Yeshiva, by Self-Reported Ethnic Affiliation ........................................................................... 80 Table 2.7: Respondents Actually or Potentially Willing to Send Sons to Haredi high-school yeshivas, by Type of Yeshiva Gevoha in which Male Respondents Studied ............................................. 81 Table 2.8: Respondents Actually or Potentially Willing to Send Sons to Haredi High-School Yeshivas, by Locality of Residence ......... 82 Table 2.9: Respondents Actually or Potentially Willing to Send Sons to Haredi High-School Yeshivas with Regards to Question on Presence in the Surrounding Environment of Boys Studying in Haredi High-School Yeshivas, by Type of Answer and Type of Environment ................................................. 84 Table 2.10: Respondents Actually or Potentially Willing to Send Sons to Haredi High-School Yeshivas, by Maximum Monthly Tuition ........................................................................................... 85 Table 2.11: Number of Hours and Ability Groups Budgeted by the Ministry of Education .................................................................. 105 Table 2.12: Income per Student by Source of Income ................................... 106 Table 2.13: Annual Employee Wages at a Haredi high-school yeshiva by Type of Employee................................................................... 107 Table 2.14: Per-Student Expenses by Type of Other Expenses ...................... 107 Table 2.15: Deficit per Student, Class Deficit and Number of Students per Class, by Option .................................................................... 108 Table 2.16: Number of New Students and Number of Classes in the 10-Year Program, by Year ............................................................110 Table 2.17: Student Numbers and per-Student Deficit during the First Eight Years of the 10-Year Program .............................................110 Table 3.1: Student Data and Deficits in the 10-Year Program of the Five Existing Haredi High-School Yeshivas, by Year ................. 120 Table 3.2: Number of new Haredi high-school yeshivas and annual deficit, by Year of the 10-Year Program ...................................... 121 Table 3.3: Scope of the Deficit in the Five Existing Haredi High- School Yeshivas if the Ministry of Education Budget is Increased by 25%, by Year, in NIS .............................................. 122 Table 3.4: Scope of the Deficit in the Five New Haredi High-School Yeshivas if the Ministry of Education Budget is Increased by 25%, by Year, in NIS .............................................................. 123 Table 3.5: