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The Eilat Municipality, the Education Ministry and several human rights groups have reached a last minute agreement that aims to integrate the children of asylum seekers and migrant workers within the southern city's schools.
Under the agreement, which was submitted for the Supreme Court's approval on Sunday, the kids are to be enrolled in schools within their residential district and are to be placed in special classes meant to help them overcome education gaps.
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Each student is to be evaluated twice a year to determine whether the special framework meets his or her needs, and whether the pupil is ready to be integrated in regular classes.
The Supreme Court on Thursday leveled staunch criticism at the municipality and the Education Ministry for planning to place the migrant kids in schools that are separate from the general public. The court ordered the officials to remedy the disparity ahead of the first day of school.
"I shudder to think about what would have happened in another if any other ethnic group, not necessarily Jews, would have been told that they should study in a separate school," Justice Yoram Danziger said.
The Eilat parents association, which said it would call for a strike if the migrant children would be allowed to attend the city's regular schools, withdrew the threat when the compromise was reached.
Omri Efraim contributed to the report
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