On May 13, 2024, we petitioned the High Court of Justice against the Ministry of Education on behalf of three students from Kiryat Shmona and the chairman of the city's parent leadership. Two weeks before the date of the first final exam, students with challenged learning and in special education courses in Kiryat Shmona, who had been evacuated from their homes and are studying in alternative frameworks, discovered that the Ministry of Education had not formulated a special outline for their final exams.
The petitioners argued that the Ministry of Education ignored the fact that all the educational frameworks provided to these students on a routine basis have collapsed, and they are not receiving the assistance necessary for them to pass the exams. Instead of studying in small classrooms with tailored curriculum and individual help, they found themselves in large classes, without any of the assistance to which they were entitled. Additionally, the students suffer from emotional difficulties that accompany the uprootment from home, friends and community, and the disintegration of all familiar frameworks. As a result, their chances of passing the exams have dropped dramatically.
The petition argued that the fact that the Ministry of Education is abandoning these students is extremely unreasonable and arbitrary, contradicts the pedagogical rationale that guides the education system and violates their right to education, equality and dignity.
HCJ 3964/24 J.A. v. Minister of Education
Attorney: Tal Hassin
Petition (Hebrew)
The petition was written with the assistance of field coordinator Sivan Tahel and interns Yael Seidemann and Elza Bugnet