Grant amount
NIS 500,000
Increasing the Rate of High-Tech Matriculation Graduates to 13% (149 Students) Among Female Students and to 23% (119 Students) Among Male Students by 2029
Advancing High-Tech Matriculation in Noam Zvia Schools
Advancing High-Tech Matriculation in Noam Zvia Schools
Noam Zvia is a small school network serving approximately 8,000 girls and 3,000 boys from families affiliated with the religious Zionist community. The network operates according to the teachings of Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook and emphasizes a religious and Torah-centered education, alongside a strong Zionist-nationalist identity.
In 2024, the foundation approached the network following the low performance of religious girls on the 2022 PISA cycle, and invited it to develop a one-year intervention program aimed at rapid improvement. The program included participation of mathematics teachers in professional learning communities and an applied mathematics competition with the participation of 1,000 female students. Feedback from the students was enthusiastic, and learning outcomes showed signs of potential improvement.
The network now seeks the foundation’s support for a program to promote high-tech matriculation. It reported high dropout rates and large gaps between male (21%) and female (9%) students obtaining the high-tech matriculation certificate. In eight of its schools (four for boys and four for girls), there is neither a physics nor a computer science class. The network has almost no excellence classes, and in two of the boys’ yeshivot, there is no five-unit mathematics class – due to ideological considerations related to religious studies.
The network claims that parents are interested mostly in religious education and have little interest in scientific excellence; this view is shared by some principals and teachers. In a conversation with the foundation, we suggested conducting a survey among parents, principals, teachers, and students to confirm and assess the extent of such a viewpoint. The network believes that building awareness and support will be a complex process and therefore intends to first focus on increasing demand – before expanding the supply of advanced study tracks.
Therefore, to increase demand among students, parents, teachers, and principals, Noam Zvia will organize a series of conferences and seminars. In addition, it will hold four annual gatherings for its schools’ education staff, featuring role models from the religious Zionist community who successfully combine both worlds. The network will appoint a dedicated team to lead the high-tech matriculation program, including a coordinator, pedagogical experts, and school-based coaches to support and mentor teachers.
In the second phase, each school in the network will analyze its own data and develop a tailored work plan. The network will open new physics and computer science tracks in the eight schools currently lacking them, and implement an enrichment program and competitions at the middle school level. A professional learning community will be established for 20 mathematics teachers and 15 physics and computer science teachers.
The end goal of the four-year program is to raise the rate of students completing high-tech matriculation to 13% of girls and 23% of boys by 2029.
* The text above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation’s Board of Directors / Grant 620