On November 28, 2024, we approached the Minister of Education and senior ministry officials with the demand (Heb) that they extend the matriculation examination accommodations offered to evacuees from the north to include evacuated students from Kiryat Shmona. The accommodations include converting the exams from being carried out by external testers to in-house exams with tailored questions based on what students have learned. Absurdly, however, these accommodations are only being given to students who were evacuated to specific schools established for them in Tel Aviv, Eilat, and Tiberias. Evacuated students in other schools are not eligible for these accommodations, even though they too have been uprooted from their homes, and forced to leave their friends, teachers, and support systems.
In their appeal, Yael Seidemann and Adv. Tal Hassin argued that the distinction being made between evacuated students is arbitrary, meaningless, and unreasonable. It undermines the students' rights to equality, education, and equal educational opportunities, and ignores the precarious academic and psychological state of the 177 students not studying in the designated schools.
Following our appeal and the petitions of the parents' committee in Kiryat Shmona, the Ministry of Education retracted its decision, and announced (Heb) that the exam accomodations will apply equally to all students
ACRI’s petition, November 28, 2024 (Heb)
Outline of accommodations following the change, December 5, 2024 (Heb)
Articles (Heb):
Michal Marantz, Following the Criticism of Discrimination between Evacuees: All Students Evacuated from Kiryat Shmona will Receive Matriculation Exam Accommodations, Davar, December 7, 2024
Michal Marentz, Those Evacuated from the Same City Will Receive Different Accommodations: Criticism of Matriculation Exam Framework for Evacuated Students, Davar, December 2, 2024