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Haredi girls petition against psychometric exam prerequisite

5 ultra-Orthodox young women claim they won’t be accepted into only school in Israel for haredi nurses due to psychometric exam precondition of minimum 500 score. Petitioners assert prerequisite violates freedom of occupation, claim their religious freedom may be compromised in other institutes

Five ultra-Orthodox young women filed a petition Thursday with the High Court of Justice demanding they be accepted into the nursing school at Netanya's Laniado Hospital without psychometric exam scores.

 

They claim that the establishment's condition of admission is a minimum score of 500 in the psychometric entrance exam, while other institutes are satisfied with an adjusted calculation of matriculation scores and the psychometric score.

 

The petitioners further claimed that in setting this prerequisite they were being prevented from joining the work force simply due to their haredi affiliation. They had completed their high school studies and were successful in the matriculation exams.

 

The young women claimed in their petition that they regarded nursing as more than a profession and viewed it as a vocation. They stated that they could have been accepted to other establishments with their matriculation grades but chose the Netanya school since it was the only institution training haredi women. They fear that in other institutes their freedom of religion would be compromised.

 

The motion was filed against Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman and head of the nursing administration in the Health Ministry demanding they turn their decision which determined the preconditions. "The decision gravely compromises the basic right of freedom of occupation and academic freedom and violates the principals of equality," the petition stated.

 

The women also claimed that the law does not allow the deputy health minister and head of nursing to set a prerequisite for nursing studies and that such an authority should be reserved to the Council for Higher Education.

 

They also demanded that the court order the two officials to explain why more reasonable conditions were not set which would have properly reflected the different needs of members of the ultra-Orthodox community. The petitioners stated that the precondition gravely offends their ability to study.

 


פרסום ראשון: 12.22.09, 15:07
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