This week, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth ran an interview with Education Minister Shay Piron. Among other things, he was asked about his decision to cancel the "Meitzav" standardized tests, which previously gauged which schools were weaker than the rest. The minister replied: "I had been planning this change from my very first day on the job." In saying this, he revealed that long before he discussed the issue with the experts, before he met with anyone about it, he had already made up his mind. Who says you need to look into things? Consult with anyone-
But maybe he is right. Let's take Piron's decision to move the mikud (the list of topics that high school students will be tested on in their matriculation exams) to the beginning of the year. Until Piron came along, students studied all the material, because it was important for their development, and two weeks before the exam they were told which subsection of the material would appear on the test. That was the mikud. Piron decided to move it up by a year.
It is safe to assume that the minister is intelligent enough to realize that from now on, anything that does not appear on the mikud list will not be studied. On the other hand, he also understands that students, who are on the verge of becoming voters, are glad to have to study less. Now, all he has to do is play dumb and mumble something about "deepening their values" and "nurturing talents."
The last person I saw deepening their values was doing it at the cemetery. Nurturing talents is also important, as we can glean from what happened this week when the eighth grade returned to school at the Kadoorie Agricultural High School following their summer vacation.
The Bible teacher -- let's call her G. -- entered the class and saw a 100-shekel bill lying on the floor. She tried to grab the bill with her hand, but couldn't. She then realized that it wasn't an actual bill, but merely a drawing on the floor. The teacher rose up and asked the students: "Who drew the 100 shekel bill-"
One of the students, L., replied, "It was me."
Teacher G. said, "I want to see your father."
L. answered, "My father is in the hospital. He was burned."
"I don't believe you. I want to see for myself," the teacher said.
So G. And L. and all the students went to the hospital in Afula, arrived at the father's bed, and saw that he was indeed hospitalized, charred from head to toe.
The Bible teacher felt bad for not believing her student, and told his father: "Your son is very talented. He drew a 100-shekel bill on the floor."
The father stopped the teacher short: "Talented? He also drew a 200-shekel bill on the electric socket."
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We like to condemn our education system and belittle it. But it is this reviled education system that gave rise to our "startup nation."
Our education system has generated a level of volunteerism among high school students that is exceptionally high compared with other Western countries. It produces an unimaginable number of youngsters who are willing to fight for their right to risk their lives for the good of society. There are eight, nine, sometimes 10 youngsters fighting for any given slot in front-line combat units.
The numbers are even higher for the elite units. Just give them the opportunity to sacrifice.
Our education system is responsible for the enormous number of students who seek to volunteer for a year of service before joining the military, or to enroll in a preparatory course -- at their own expense -- in order to make their contribution in the army more meaningful. The number is so large that the budgets are running out. There is also a shortage of spaces in the national service programs.
All of this is achieved by our reviled education system, which the new education minister is trying to turn upside down. This education system is also responsible for turning out a wave of young authors whose work is translated into foreign languages all over the world, and an even bigger wave of highly respected filmmakers. Shall I go on-
All this brings us to two conclusions: The first is that though it is okay to want things to be better, there is nothing wrong with looking at the bigger picture. The second is that the education minister would be far more helpful if he toned down his reform spree -- the only benefit his reforms are likely to bring is that the minister instigating them will be able to say that he left some kind of mark. Instead of pulling out a reform on his first day on the job, it would be best if the minister did nothing and just made an effort not to ruin anything.
Which brings us to an event that has nothing to do with any of the aforementioned, and that happened in a forest. Really, it has nothing to do with anything.
A rabbit was running through the trees, when he suddenly noticed a deer leaning against one of the trees, smoking a hookah.
"What is happening to you-" the rabbit asked. "Let's run a little. Get some exercise."
The deer complied, and began running with the rabbit.
After a few minutes, they saw a fox shooting up drugs. The deer scolded the fox, saying, "Hey, fox, why shoot up drugs? Come run with us. Get some exercise."
The fox joined the deer and the rabbit and the three of them ran. Several minutes later, they saw a monkey snorting a line of white powder.
The fox yelled at the monkey: "Hey, monkey, why snort? Come run with us. Get some exercise."
The monkey replied: "Leave me alone. I am sick and tired of this. Every time the rabbit takes ecstasy, the entire forest has to run around."
The ugly duckling
In recent days, while most of the world was occupied with the mass murder via poison gas perpetrated by the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, the British press realized what is truly important. This is the story that dominated the headlines over there: The British secret service, the MI5 and the police established a joint task force to find out who was behind one of the "biggest crimes" in history: Turning one of the royal swans into schnitzel.
Her Majesty, the Queen, owns some 200 swans who, according to the national constitution, are legal members of the royal family. They reside in the royal lake, not far from Windsor Castle. Someone stole one of the swans and barbecued it.
According to British law, killing one of these swans is tantamount to treason. The queen's spokespeople explained to reporters just how shocking it all was: The anonymous assassin not only put parts of the swan on the grill, but left the inedible parts to rot under the open sky. One of the spokespeople said with utter shock that he could not imagine what kind of person would do such a thing.
Until now, we could make fun of the British, who, while human beings are being slaughtered with poison gas, are worried about a task force to find out who ate the ugly duckling. But then, we took a look in the mirror, and what we saw was a people who are physically much closer to the Syrian mass murder, and yet all we can talk about is that celebrity couple Yehuda Levy and Ninet Tayeb split up and who won the reality television program "Big Brother."
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו