Special perks for pregnant students
צילום: Index Open
Degree in motherhood
Having doubts over starting family while completing academic education? Decision may be made easier: Maternity leave, bathroom breaks and extra time for tests – all part of possible future perks for student moms
Just days after giving birth, Ruth Frankenberg sat down to finish her university papers and assignments. She had to get over the physical exhaustion, the pains and the emotional turmoil and head right back to school to complete her bachelor's degree requirements.
But students like Ruth, who decide to start families during their university studies, may soon be able to do so with more ease. Students forced to take exams a week after giving birth, or who needed to re-take courses because they were confined to their beds with pregnancy complications might be happy to know that someone has taken up their cause.
A special committee appointed by the Council for Higher Education (CHE) has put together a list of detailed recommendations for the benefit of pregnant students, students undergoing fertility treatments, pregnancy complications, and post-natal students.
The CHE has yet to approve the recommendations, which may undergo a few changes before their final version, but the Student Union hopes the recommendations will come into force as early as the next academic year.
The committee for assistance and amendments for pregnant women is made up of representatives from academic institutions, junior staff associations and representatives of the National Student Union.
According to the recommendations, pregnant students will be allowed to miss classes, postpone paper submissions and receive extra time during tests. From the ninth months until a month after giving birth, they will be eligible for on-campus parking and academic institutions will be obliged to set aside fully-equipped nursing rooms.
The committee has even taken student couples into consideration: Its recommendations include permitting the spouse to take a week of maternity leave.
Just like reservists
"Childbirth and motherhood are the main sources of inequality in the academia and lack of advancement for women in the academia," said Mor Efrat, a representative of the Student Union. According to Efrat, there is a huge gap between the procedures and the actual proceedings.Even institutions that have special procedures in these cases don't offer them automatically to students. They must ask lecturers to approve the special benefits.
Frankenberg, who gave birth to both her children during her studies for a degree in social work, reinforced Efrat's statements. "In order for a pregnant student or a new mother to succeed in completing a degree she needs to have a great deal of willpower and support from family members. My mother would come from out of town to help me," she noted.
"And while the universities do compromise on certain issues, it just isn't enough and the main problem is that it's arbitrary and completely dependant on the lecturer's kindness. It's in the state's interest to have clear rules and regulations. Just as reservists have special benefits and assistance, so must female students, so that they can complete their degree, find work, and become integral members of society."
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