7.0505 Higher Education in Israel (1/202)
Elaine Brennan (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Mon, 21 Feb 1994 22:47:39 EST
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 7, No. 0505. Monday, 21 Feb 1994.
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 1994 01:36:58 -0500 (EST)
From: kraft@ccat.sas.upenn.edu (Robert Kraft)
Subject: The Plight of Higher Education in Israel (fwd)
At the request of my colleague at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem,
Michael E. Stone, I am forwarding the following information to selected
discussion groups. Cross posting and further circulation is encouraged
-- and letters of support for our beleaguered colleagues!
Bob Kraft, UPenn
Forwarded message:
> Date: Sun, 20 Feb 94 22:29 +0200
> From: <STONE@vms.huji.ac.il>
> Subject: The Plight of Higher Education in Israel
>
> The Israel National Association of University Professors
>
> Febuary 20, 1994
>
> CRISIS IN ISRAELI HIGHER EDUCATION
>
>
> Higher education in Israel ground to a halt seven weeks ago when the
> 4,500 faculty members of Israel's seven major universities declared a
> strike. On the surface, the faculty strike appears to be due to a wage
> dispute between academic faculties and the government. However the causes
> are much deeper.
>
> In its first decades, Israel made a strong commitment to higher
> education and invested heavily in it despite a heavy burden of defense
> costs. This commitment reflected a tradition of learning which has
> characterized Jewish societies for so many centuries. The young were
> encouraged to study. Israeli universities have faculty members who are
> world-renowned for their scientific work; tenure criteria are among the
> toughest in the world. However, during the past two decades, this tradition
> of devotion to learning has changed and, as Israel enters a period of
> prosperity, it seems to be disappearing. This is reflected in the low
> priority which successive governments have given to higher education. The
> present Rabin administration, which was elected on a platform which promised
> to give top priority to education, quickly forgot this commitment once
elected.
>
> Budget cuts, year after year, have squeezed the universities to the
> point where they are in danger of becoming second-rate institutions. For
> example, 44,360 students were studying in Israel universities in 1972. Their
> number grew by 77% to 78,640 in 1992, while the number of academic staff
> increased by only 23%. As a result, professors must teach classes whose
> size, on the average, is greater by 45% than twenty years ago. At the same
> time, there has been a continual erosion of the salaries of academic faculty.
> It should be understood that the salaries of academic university staff
> are set by the Israeli government. Repeated attempts by the university
> professors to receive equitable salaries have been rebuffed by the government.
> Our salaries are half of what researchers with the same academic rank in
> government companies and research institutes receive. More significantly, a
> young faculty member in Israel, with a PhD, on the average 34 years old
> (with a rank equivalent to an Assistant Professor in the United States), has a
> take-home pay which represents 47% of that which the government itself
> publishes as the basic expense for an urban family. The consequences of
> such low salaries are already endangering our ability to function properly
> and the future looks bleak. Most of us must moonlight, or go abroad for
> extended periods to make ends meet. Young people who might otherwise
> consider an academic career continue to reject academia in increasing
> numbers for private or government jobs in Israel or abroad. We feel that
> we can no longer be called upon to maintain world-class universities at the
> current level of our salaries.
>
> The strike should therefore be seen as more than just a wage dispute.
> Professors, and the students who support them, see the future of higher
> education in Israel at stake. If higher education is not given proper
> priority, then the scientific and intellectual edge for which Israel
> is known, and which it needs to survive, will be jeopardized. In many
> respects, the universities are already feeling these effects.
>
> Unfortunately, the government has sent a clear message about its
> commitment to higher education through the demeaning rhetoric of the
> Prime Minister himself who is reported to have declared that he would
> not hesitate to close down all the Israeli universities. In an attempt to
> turn public opinion against academic university staff, derogatory comments
> in the media by government officials about professors have become daily
> occurrences. Listening to governmental spokesmen and politicians, one
> wonders if Israel is, in reality, the land of the "People of the Book"!
>
> We turn to you, our colleagues and friends abroad, and ask for your
> help in putting our case to the Israeli government, members of parliament
> (Knesset), opinion makers, and leaders of industry and commerce. Some of
> you have spent time, effort and money helping to build the universities.
> Others, have been involved in joint research projects, or had the
> opportunity to have spent time here. We know that all of you care.
>
> Please take the time to express your opinion and help us in this
> hour of crisis.
>
>
> ________________________________________________________________________
>
> For further information please contact Prof. M. Gur, fax no. 972-3-640-7410.
>
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>
> Appendix A:
>
>
> Table 1. Gross income on April 1993 in American dollars.
>
> |------------------|-------------|---------|-------------|------------|
> | Rank | University | N.R.I. | Gonv't Comp.|Exper. (yrs)|
> |------------------|-------------|---------|-------------|------------|
> | Lecturer | 1,637 | 3,618 | 3,748 | 5 |
> | | | | | |
> | Senior Lecturer | 1,840 | 3,838 | 4,950 | 7 |
> | | | | | |
> | Assoc. Professor | 2,194 | 4,013 | 6,030 | 13 |
> | | | | | |
> | Full Professor | 2,777 | 4,564 | 6,783 | 20 |
> |------------------|-------------|---------|-------------|------------|
>
> University - All 7 universities of Israel: Ben-Gurion, Bar-Ilan, Haifa,
> Hebrew Univ of Jerusalem, Technion, Tel-Aviv, Weizmann Inst.
>
> N.R.I. - National research institutes such as Rafael, Nuclear Res. Ctr, etc.
>
> Government
> Companies - Senior workers in positions comparable to faculty members.
>
> Note: In Government companies and in national research institutes they also
> have extra benefits such as car expenses, meals, etc.
>
> Reference: H. Kratch & Assoc., Ramat Hasharon.
>
>
>
>
> Table 2. High Education in Israel - Some Basic Statistics.
>
> |-------|----------------|---------------|-------|----------------------|
> | Year | Total Students |Senior Faculty | Ratio | GDP/CAP |
> | | S (SN) | F (FN) | S/F |(Const $) (normalized)|
> |-------|----------------|---------------|-------|----------------------|
> | | | | | |
> |1972/73| 44,362 (1.00) | 3,748 (1.00) | 11.84 | 6,015 (1.00) |
> | | | | | |
> |1984/85| 61,155 (1.38) | 4,296 (1.15) | 14.24 | 6,790 (1.13) |
> | | | | | |
> |1991/92| 78,640 (1.77) | 4,590 (1.23) | 17.13 | 7,755 (1.29) |
> | | | | | |
> |-------|----------------|---------------|-------|----------------------|
>
>
> Note: SN, FN, GDP/CAP - Data normalized to 1972/73.
> GDP/CAP (Gross Domestic Product per capita) - a measure of wealth
> of the country.
>
> Reference: Statistical Abstract of Israel: 1976 (No. 27) pp. 617,619
> 1993 (No. 44) pp. 193,677,692.
>
> Remark: In the period from 1972 to 1992, while the number of university
> students increased by 77%, the university senior faculty staff
> only increased by 23%, thus causing an increase of the S/F ratio
> from 11.84 to 17.13 (namely an increase of 45%).
>
>
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
> Appendix B:
>
>
> LIST OF FAX NUMBERS OF ISRAELI MINISTERS
>
>
> 1) Itzchak Rabin (Prime Minister, Defence Minister): 972-3-691-6940
> 972-2-705-555
> 2) Shimon Peres (Foreign Minister): 972-2-303-506
>
> 3) Beiga Shochat (Tressury minister): 972-2-635-769
>
> 4) Amnon Rubinshtein (Education minister): 972-2-292-249
>
> 5) Shulamit Alony (communication and science minister): 972-2-240-029
>
> 6) Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Construction minister): 972-2-811-904
>
> 7) Uzi Bar-am (Tourism minister): 972-2-250-890
>
> 8) Micha Harish (Commerce and Industry minister): 972-2-243-738
>
> 9) David Libayi (Justice minister): 972-2-285-438
>
> 10) Ora Namir (Welfare and Labor minister): 972-2-666-385
>
> 11) Yair Tsaban (Absorbtion minister): 972-2-669-244
>
> 12) Yaacov Tzur (Agriculture minister): 972-3-696-8899
>
> 13) Israel Keysar (Transportation minister): 972-2-319-238
>
> 14) Moshe Shahal (Police minister): 972-2-811-832
>
> 15) Shimon Shitrit (Economics minister): 972-2-536-101
>
> 16) Yossi Sarid (Environment minister): 972-2-611-147
>
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>
> end.
>