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Israeli youth at March of the Living in Poland
Photo: Reuters

40% drop in number of youths participating in Poland delegations

Head of Education Ministry's Social and Youth Administration presents Knesset Education Committee with bleak numbers according to which only 27,000 students visited death camps in Poland in 2008. MK Orlev says 'Delegations can't be for rich alone'

Head of the Education Ministry's Social and Youth Administration Yossi Levy briefed the Knesset Education Committee on the dramatic decline in the number of students participating in youth delegations to Poland on Monday.

 

According to the data presented by Levy, there was a 40% drop in the number of students embarking on the trip in 2008, due to the delegations' costs. "While the number of students who traveled to Poland in 2007 was 27,000, in 2008, only 15,000 students went," Levy said.

 

Ynet reported at the start of the month that State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss is probing the Education Ministry in light of rising prices students are charged for participating in the youth delegations to the concentration camps in Poland.

 

The comptroller's office told Ynet that among other things it would investigate the issue of flight tickets handed out by tourism agencies for every number of students participating. The free tickets are often used by accompanying teachers, at the expense of the students' parents.

 

Education Committee Chairman MK Zevulun Orlev said at the meeting, "The delegations to Poland cannot be for the rich alone. The Holocaust is a dominant issue in the shaping of the Jewish and Zionist identity of the students of Israel, beyond any other subject.

 

"According to the numbers, only a fifth of each class travels to Poland, and the rest don't participate in the delegations seemingly due to their high costs."

 

Suggestions to make the trips more affordable included cutting the duration of the delegations from eight days to four days. MK Nitzan Horowitz proposed to move the delegations' destination from Poland to Germany.

 

"The Holocaust and the Nazis came from Berlin, and it may be best to conduct the tour there. Sometimes, focusing on Poland can make us miss the mark. Nazism came from Germany," Horowitz said.

 

Education Ministry Director-General Shimshon Shoshani said, "There are children that have a hard time funding the costs of the annual trip… The Education Ministry will discuss the possibility of reducing the cost of the delegations and will examine all aspects. All students, even those that do not take the trip, must be obligated to participate in the days of preparation for the delegation and be take part in learning the legacy of the Holocaust."

 

It should be noted that some two years ago, the cost of the trip to Poland spiked from some NIS 4,000 (around $1,000) to some NIS 7,000 (roughly $1,800). Last year the cost dropped to a bit over NIS 5,000 (about $1,300). Many parents have a hard time paying this high cost.

 

The previous cost of around $1,000 is also considered quite steep, in light of that fact that the trip is only eight days long.

 

According to a report by the Knesset Research and Information Center, most of the students that participate in the Poland delegations come from well-off families and cities with high-socioeconomic standings.

 


פרסום ראשון: 12.28.09, 15:19
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