Channels

Photo: Michal Kramer
Scout camp. 'It costs a fair deal.'
Photo: Michal Kramer

Israeli parents pay out thousands for Passover camps

With school out for the holiday, parents find themselves paying thousands of shekels to keep their children entertained over the eight-day festival.

Yael, a mother of five from the Sharon area, will be sending three of her children to their youth movement's traditional Passover holiday camp this week, but not before parting with NIS 1,350.

 

 

"It's costing me NIS 500 for a two-night camp for the first child, NIS 450 for the second child, and NIS 400 for the third," Yael says. "And this is in addition to the NIS 900 we paid at the beginning of the year for the kids to join the movement. In our case, it's the Agricultural Union youth movement, but other movements also cost a lot, and even more."

 

Thousands of children who are members of youth movements will be heading off to Passover camps; and before the parents have time to recover from the heavy costs, they will have to fork out NIS 600-700 per child for the summer camp.

 

Scout Movement camp (Photo: Michal Kramer)
Scout Movement camp (Photo: Michal Kramer)

 

"We didn't know if we should send the children to some kind of day camp over Passover or to the youth movement camp." Yael says.

 

"We eventually decided that if we're going to be spending this kind of money, it would be better to send them to a camp that will equip them with values and not merely experiences. It's a big expense for the family because the kids don't want to miss out on any of the activities and they go to all the camps."

 

The four-day Passover camps for the older children are even more expensive. The Scouts Movement camp, for example, can cost parents up to NIS 560 per child, while the HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed youth movement camp has a NIS 638 per child price tag.

 

"In the past, being a member of a youth movement wasn't considered a luxury and everyone could afford to join a movement. Today, it costs a fair deal. And when you have more than one child, the expense is even bigger," Yael says.

 

"Last year, I paid more than NIS 3,000 for two children in the Scouts because they participated in all the camps and events. And that didn't include the cost of the uniforms and equipment for the camps," another mother tells us.

 

So why does it have to cost so much?

"The camps go on for a few days and require a lot of organization – from cooked food and through to sleeping out in the field in an organized encampment," says Dror Rivovsky, a Scouts leader from the south.

 

 

"In addition, there are considerable expenses for the transportation of children on buses, security, medical care, insurance and more."

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 04.03.15, 10:52
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment