‘Israeli MIT’ Triples Arab Enrollment in Decade
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Despite a persistent divide in educational attainment between Jews and Arabs in Israel, Haifa’s Technion University has managed to triple the enrollment of Arab students over the past decade.
Referred to as Israel’s MIT, and reputed for its math and science talent, the Haifa school now has a student body that’s 20 percent of Arab origin, roughly mirroring the makeup of Israel’s own population.
University President Peretz Lavie told the Times of Israel that Technion had increased its number of Arab students by creating a new bootcamp for Arab students close to meeting the university’s academic standards, but needing some extra help.
“There is no affirmative action at all in the Technion. Not for any group, and not in any of the faculties,” boasted Lavie.
The bootcamp, for “Outstanding Arab Youth,” treats participants to a 10 month program in which advanced topics in mathematics, physics, English and Hebrew are explored. Those who graduate the program gain admission to Technion and receive subsidies to attend university. Eitan Wertheimer, a wealthy israeli businessman, is the bootcamp’s primary funder.
Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
