The government's reopening of the country’s education institutions has caused several coronavirus outbreaks and forced tens of thousands of students and school staff to enter quarantine all throughout Israel.
In order to avoid repeating the same mistake and avert further outbreaks, the Ministry of Education has begun making preparations for continued remote learning during the next school year.
Online learning is expected to take place simultaneously with classroom learning, and will be used as needed.
Additionally, Education Minister Yoav Galant concluded with the Ministry of Finance that remote learning time will be financially and educationally equivalent to physical learning in the classroom - meaning that teachers will be paid for their online work, just as they would have been if they taught in a regular classroom.
The Ministry of Education seeks to eradicate the phenomenon of schools closing when just one positive coronavirus case is diagnosed, with students and educational staff entering quarantine until the epidemiological tests are completed.
According to the ministry's policy, studies should continue and be maintained even in the event of a school being closed due to a positive coronavirus case.
Galant said Sunday that the ministry's decision is of great importance, as the education system will have to make use of remote studies in the future, for reasons related to the coronavirus and others.
However, there are quite a few families who are still unsure how they will provide a computer for each member of the household and how to accompany their young children during online classes - since often they require a lot of guidance and support from their parents.
The remote learning program has put a lot of pressure on many parents, mainly due to the myriad of assignments, tasks, and lessons that needed to be complete under rigid time constraints.