Students at highway intersection
צילום: ניב קלדרון
Students protest, burn tires
Some 27 colleges around Israel go on strike, students stop drivers on highway to ask for donations for higher education which they plan to send to education minister
About 100 students from the National Union of Israeli Students have been burning tires and disrupting traffic on a highway intersection since Wednesday morning.
The students have been asking drivers for financial donations for higher education, which they plan to send to Education Minister Professor Yuli Tamir.
Due to the burning tires, a bus crashed into a jeep causing damage, but no injuries.
The students waved posters saying "Yuli Tamir, you've betrayed the students," and "not everyone can afford oxford."
Students stopped drivers and told them "we are students from the periphery, help us."
Glilot Junction (Photo: Niv Calderon)
Reut Fischer of Levinski College of Education told Ynet that "they are taking our education away. We want to study with dignity. Most of us live on scholarships and feel bad to ask for help from others. The tuition must be decreased, so that everyone can study without needing handouts."
Another student, Ayalon Kotller, said that "people tell us we are crazy for wanting to be teachers and that we are committing suicide. Why should I feel like I am killing myself? For NIS 3,000 later on? This is the time to invest in education; everyone knows education is the solution to everything."
The National Union of Israeli Students has put on strike 27 colleges around the county.
The students' rage stemmed from an interview given by chairman of the Shohat Commission, which is to review the reform in higher education, Abraham Shohat, where he said that the hard hit to higher education was a result of former Education Minister Limor Livnat's preference and investment in colleges.
The students also demanded that the Winograd Committee's conclusions of 2001 be implemented which call for a 50 percent decrease in tuition fees. These conclusions will be applied, only partially, by the end of the day.
Teachers also strike
Teachers unions across the country have also decided to put on strike first and second grade classes in elementary schools, and 11th and 12 grade classes in high schools. In total, some 450,000 students are currently on strike.
The decision to strike came as the next step in the teachers' struggle for improves employment conditions and wages, after going on strike for two hours last week.
