Study: Israeli students' achievements ranked lowest in West

Israeli students' achievements in international exams over the last decade were ranked lowest among Western nations, according to a new comparative study conducted by the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies. The study further demonstrated that Israel had the highest education gaps in the West.

The study, which surveyed the state of education in 1999-2009, compared Israel's scholastic achievements with 25 leading countries in the fields of reading, math and science.

Excluding one test, Israeli pupils' scores were the lowest compared to other countries throughout the last ten years. The nation's top students, those ranked in the top 5%, were also at the bottom compared with their Western counterparts.

Taub Center manager who also conducted the study Prof. Dan Ben-David said, "Within a decade these countries' graduates will compete with their Israeli counterparts in all crucial areas of life. The 'toolbox' level with which Israel provides its children will position them at a disadvantage, which many will not be able to escape.

"One of the main goals of a public education system should be the narrowing of gaps in opportunities by providing an equal set of tools. Ironically, it is in a country which has one of the highest income inequalities in the Western world that the education system operates in the exact opposite direction. "

The study's analysts also believe that its findings paint a better picture than actually exists in reality, since the exams' sample did not aptly represent the entire Israeli population, which did not include the ultra-Orthodox sector.

"There is a very large group of students which is not educated on core subjects. As a result, the international tests' results, which are already problematic for Israel, indicate a better state than exists in practice. This comes after a previous generation of Israelis won more science Nobel Prizes than virtually any other country," Ben-David said.