Do Haredi Schools Teach the Core Curriculum? 56% of Primary Pupils Did
The State Comptroller’s 2020 audit put core-curriculum study at 56% of pupils in Haredi primary institutions, and counted 84 inspectors.
56% of pupils in Haredi primary institutions studied the core curriculum, on the State Comptroller’s 2020 audit of the Ministry of Education and its supervision of Haredi education. The same chapter recorded about 446,000 Haredi pupils in school year 5779, 2018/19, about 30% of the Hebrew education system. The Comptroller published the 56% for primary institutions as a whole; the figures it published separately for boys and for girls are 12th-grade matriculation rates, which count something else.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 56% | Pupils in Haredi primary institutions who studied the core curriculum | As at the audit, published 2020 |
| About 446,000 | Haredi pupils in the school system | School year 5779, 2018/19 |
| About 30% | Haredi pupils as a share of the Hebrew education system | School year 5779, 2018/19 |
| 13% | Boys in 12th grade who sat and qualified for matriculation | As at the audit, published 2020 |
| 21% | Girls in 12th grade who sat and qualified for matriculation | As at the audit, published 2020 |
| 6,664 | Institutions under supervision, covered by 84 inspectors | As at the audit, published 2020 |
| Over 1,000 | Institutions operating without a business licence | As at the audit, published 2020 |
| 76% | Institutions inspected on which district supervision reports carried no full data | As at the audit, published 2020 |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, The Ministry of Education: Haredi Education and Its Supervision, chapter 210 in Annual Report 70b, 2020. The audit is the state audit institution’s own examination of a ministry, reporting to the Knesset, and its figures are the Comptroller’s counts drawn from the Ministry’s records.
56% of Haredi primary pupils studied the core curriculum
The State Comptroller recorded that 56% of pupils in Haredi primary institutions studied the core curriculum. That share belongs to pupils in primary institutions, and the audit is an examination by Israel’s state audit institution of the Ministry of Education’s own supervision, not a survey of households or of teachers. Three separate bases appear in the chapter, and each figure carries its own.
- 56%: of pupils in Haredi primary institutions.
- About 446,000 pupils and about 30%: of the Haredi sector and of the Hebrew education system respectively, in school year 5779, 2018/19.
- 13% and 21%: of 12th-grade pupils, by sex.
13% of boys and 21% of girls qualified for matriculation
The State Comptroller published 13% for boys and 21% for girls in 12th grade, and both figures count sitting and qualifying for matriculation together. Neither is a pass rate among those who sat, because the audit does not separate the two steps. Both are the Comptroller’s counts of results in the Haredi institutions it audited, and both belong to 12th grade rather than to the primary institutions the 56% covers.
84 inspectors supervised 6,664 Haredi institutions
The State Comptroller counted 6,664 supervised institutions and 84 inspectors covering them, and found over 1,000 institutions operating without a business licence. These are counts of the Ministry of Education’s supervision apparatus, taken by the state audit institution from the Ministry’s own records, and they measure inspection capacity rather than what any institution taught.
| Figure | What it counts |
|---|---|
| 6,664 | Institutions under the Ministry’s supervision |
| 84 | Inspectors covering those institutions |
| Over 1,000 | Institutions operating without a business licence |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, chapter 210 in Annual Report 70b, 2020. The licence figure is published as a floor and stays one.
District supervision reports carried no full data on 76% of institutions
The State Comptroller found that district supervision reports carried no full data on 76% of the institutions inspected. The share is the auditor’s count of the Ministry of Education’s own inspection records, so it describes what the Ministry’s reporting contained rather than what inspectors saw on site.
- The denominator is institutions inspected, not all 6,664 institutions under supervision.
- The finding is about the completeness of the district reports.
- The chapter publishes no separate figure for institutions where full data was recorded and compliance was found.
The 2020 audit publishes no boys and girls split of the 56%
The State Comptroller published the 56% for Haredi primary institutions as a single figure and did not break it down by sex. Its figures by sex are the 12th-grade matriculation shares, which count a different thing at a different stage. Where the record says nothing, this page says nothing.
| Figure | What it counts | Stage |
|---|---|---|
| 56% | Core-curriculum study | Primary institutions, both sexes together |
| 13% | Sat and qualified for matriculation | 12th grade, boys |
| 21% | Sat and qualified for matriculation | 12th grade, girls |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, chapter 210 in Annual Report 70b, 2020.
Which of these figures may not be added together?
The 56%, the 13% and the 21% rest on different bases, primary-institution pupils for the first and 12th-grade pupils for the other two, so they may not be averaged or read as one series.
The 446,000 and the about 30% both carry the source’s approximation, and the Hebrew-system total they imply is not a figure the chapter publishes.
6,664 institutions against 84 inspectors works out at about 79 each, which is arithmetic on two published counts rather than a figure the State Comptroller printed.
The pupil figures belong to school year 5779, 2018/19, and the chapter was published in 2020; carry the school year with the figure.
The State Comptroller states, in its May 2022 follow-up audit of the Samaria and Judea police district, that the findings of an audit report and its recommendations are valid as of the date of its presentation.
Questions readers ask
Do Haredi schools teach the core curriculum?
The State Comptroller recorded in 2020 that 56% of pupils in Haredi primary institutions studied the core curriculum.
Which pupils does the 56% cover?
The State Comptroller published it as a share of pupils in Haredi primary institutions, not of all Haredi pupils and not of institutions.
How many Haredi pupils were there?
The State Comptroller recorded about 446,000 Haredi pupils in school year 5779, 2018/19.
What share of the Hebrew education system is that?
The State Comptroller put Haredi pupils at about 30% of the Hebrew education system in that year.
How many Haredi boys qualified for matriculation?
The State Comptroller reported 13% of boys and 21% of girls in 12th grade sat and qualified for matriculation.
Is the 13% a pass rate?
No. The State Comptroller counted sitting and qualifying together, so the figure is not a pass rate among those who sat.
How many inspectors cover Haredi institutions?
The State Comptroller counted 84 inspectors covering 6,664 supervised institutions.
How many institutions lacked a business licence?
The State Comptroller found over 1,000 institutions operating without a business licence, published as a floor.
How complete were the supervision reports?
The State Comptroller found that district supervision reports carried no full data on 76% of the institutions inspected.
Does the audit split the 56% between boys and girls?
No. The State Comptroller published the 56% for primary institutions as a whole, and its figures by sex are the 12th-grade matriculation shares.
Which year do the figures cover?
The State Comptroller recorded the pupil figures for school year 5779, 2018/19, and published the chapter in Annual Report 70b in 2020.
Is the audit published in English?
The chapter is published in Hebrew. The State Comptroller publishes English abstracts of some chapters, as it did for its July 2024 follow-up audit on the purchase and sale of public housing apartments.
Sources
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2020. The Ministry of Education: Haredi Education and Its Supervision. Chapter 210, Annual Report 70b. library.mevaker.gov.il. Official or primary record.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2022. Samaria and Judea District of the Israel Police, Follow-up Audit. State Comptroller Report, May 2022, Chapter Four. library.mevaker.gov.il. Official or primary record.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2024. Purchase and Sale of Public Housing Apartments, Follow-up Audit. Chapter 204, July 2024, English abstract. library.mevaker.gov.il. Official or primary record.
