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October 17, 2003
Cuts hurt private school
Israel's Alon Centre needs Diaspora's financial help.
KYLE BERGER REPORTER
Since the intifada started just over three years ago, Jewish communities
around the Diaspora have put an extra emphasis on visiting Israel
to help the country's tourism industry survive. A program called
Shop Israel was even created to help Israeli merchants sell their
wares around the globe.
However, Diaspora Jews may not have spent as much time considering
how other important parts of Israeli society, such as education,
have suffered as a result of the intifada.
That's what Dvorah Feldstein is hoping to change.
Feldstein, a founder of the Alon Centre, a northern Israeli school
for students with unique learning challenges, is touring Canada
hoping to raise awareness and funds for her struggling program.
With a starving economy and more and more funds being directed to
the security of its people, the Israeli government has cut its education
budget in half. This has resulted in an increase in public school
classroom sizes but it has been more critical to smaller schools
like the Alon Centre.
With a mandate of individual attention and focus, the Alon Centre
keeps classes at a ration of one teacher to every four students.
The government's cut in funding means the centre will have to cut
the number of students able to learn at the school. The school currently
has 170 students, with another 37 hoping to get in if the funding
becomes available. Anywhere between $1,000 to $2,000 per student
would be needed to make up for the lost government contributions.
The Alon Centre focuses on three different types of students who
likely would have dropped out of school after achieving Israel's
compulsory completion of Grade 9. The first group consists of students
with health disorders like anorexia or bulimia. The second group
is youth with behavioral problems, some of whom have attention deficit
disorders, drug problems or have had criminal involvement. The third
group is comprised of students who have severe learning disabilities
who struggle in the common public school system.
"These children need more than just study material," Feldstein
told the Bulletin. "They also need success, they need
to feel good about themselves and they need a therapeutic environment."
The Alon Centre has proven its value with a matriculation rate of
91 per cent, more than double that of Israel's public schools.
"The whole population of the [Alon Centre] has the potential
to end up as contributing citizens," Feldstein said. "But
their individual needs weren't being met."
Feldstein, who grew up in Montreal and made aliyah 27 years ago,
visited Vancouver Oct. 9, hoping to raise awareness and funds for
the Alon Centre.
"I'm looking for people who understand the problem as I do,"
she said. "I'm looking for people who want a strong personal
contact and 95 per cent of their money to go directly into the children
and into the centre."
Feldstein also encouraged people to come visit the centre and bring
board games or computer games for the students, which they consider
to be luxury items.
More information about the Alon Centre can be found online at www.aloncentre.co.il.
Kyle Berger is a freelance journalist and graphic designer
living in Richmond.
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