Ethiopian-Israeli students' matriculation rates improve, but still trail average 

Figures rose by four percent to 47.61 percent, but it is still far behind the 62 average among other Israelis

The number of Ethiopian-Israeli students who passed their matriculation exams rose in 2012 by 4 percent to 47.61 percent. However, that figure is still much lower than the average for other students in Israel, which was 62.4 percent.

Since 2007, the percentage of Ethiopian Israeli students who passed their matriculation examinations has risen from 37 percent to 47 percent.

The percentage of 12th graders from the Ethiopian Israeli community who sit for their matriculation exams has hardly changed over the past four years and stands at 85 percent to 86 percent.

The Education Ministry says that its policy over the past four years has been to close gaps in the education system, including those between Ethiopian immigrants and other students. From 2009 to 2012, the ministry says it has allocated approximately NIS 80 million to improving learning achievements of children from the Ethiopian community.

The Education Ministry’s matriculation statistics for 2012, which it published last month, showed an increase of 1.7 percent in students eligible for a matriculation certificate in the entire age cohort, for a total of 49.8 percent. That calculation also included students who did not sit for the exams, and some ultra-Orthodox students.

Excluding the ultra-Orthodox students, the figures show that 66.6 percent of the entire age cohort passed the exams, and among those in school, 71.2 percent matriculated.

Among all non-Jewish children in the age cohort (not including those from East Jerusalem), 42.4 percent passed the exam and among those who were enrolled in school, 52.4 percent passed. These figures have also been consistently improving since 2007.

A study by the Myers JDC-Brookdale Institute, reported by Haaretz last month, revealed that the achievements of students born in Ethiopia are higher than those of the first generation born in Israel. For example, 31 percent of students born in Israel reported failing at least three subjects in school, as opposed to 24 percent of students born in Ethiopia.

In 2010, 40 percent of Ethiopian students born in Israel were entitled to matriculation certificates as opposed to 47 percent of those born in Ethiopia. Among Jewish Israeli students who hail from veteran Israeli families, the figure was 65 percent. The figures pertain to students in matriculation-track schools.

However, these figures could be considered misleading, because according to the Knesset research department, only 21 percent of Ethiopian students met the conditions for university acceptance, while the figure for all Israeli Jewish students was 47 percent.

As Haaretz reported last month, the Education Ministry recently changed the conditions of one of the key programs designed to boost the educational achievements of Ethiopian-Israeli students, through facilitators who work with 10,000 students in 150 institutions. A newly issued Ministry tender would essentially dismantle the center that employs the facilitators, putting them under the aegis of a personnel company, radically changing the way they work. The facilitators’ job is to strengthen the ties between the school, the students and their families.