Beginning in the fall of 2012, leaders of
Israeli non-profit organizations came together to run after school enrichment
programs for 7th-9th grade students, called
YOUniversity. The program focuses
on science curriculum and is located in five of Israeli’s “developing towns”
that are economically unstable and located away from main cities and mass
populations; giving students the opportunity to succeed in education when the
resources are not as accessible as other cities. Said by the YOUniversity director, Ido Horresh: “I am
convinced that the most brilliant, freshest new minds in Israeli science are
going to come from the periphery, from places like Dimona, Safed, Kiryat Gat,
Nahariya, and Nazereth.”
Like a partnered education non-profit, World
ORT, the programs are designed to help the Arab children in Israel, as much as
the Jewish community. With the
communities coming together, the goal of the program is to challenge kids to
find themselves in an educational field and not to limit themselves based on
their social class or excluded “ethnic minority”.
Although this program is new and in progress,
the funding is limited for a 20-year engagement in each community. The classes in the program require an
admittance fee, but are structured to build encouragement for participation in
the students. Because the leaders of the program come
from similar backgrounds as the children, they are more empathetic to their
economic circumstances, while giving them an opportunity that many people do
not have.
http://www.educationnews.org/international-uk/israels-youniversity-brings-science-to-developing-cities/
No comments:
Post a Comment