Grant amount
NIS 510,000
Increasing the Rate of Female Students Completing High-Tech Matriculation in Darca Schools from 9% (91 students) in 2025 to 14% (153 students) by 2029
Developing School Leadership to Drive High-Tech Matriculation Growth
Developing School Leadership to Drive High-Tech Matriculation Growth
The Darca School Network was established in 2010 by the Rashi Foundation to operate secondary schools in Israel’s social and geographic peripheries. Over the years, the network has become an independent entity and currently operates 41 schools. Today, approximately 30,000 students are enrolled in Darca Schools, and in 2023, 11% of twelfth-grade students participated in the high-tech matriculation track, similar to the national average of 10.9%.
Several years ago, the network collaborated with the Trump Foundation on a program to promote five-unit mathematics in high schools and, in recent years, on an initiative to open excellence classes in middle schools. The goal of the high school program was for 18% of graduates to complete five-unit mathematics. By the end of the program in 2018, the actual rate was 17.4%. The goal for middle school is for 26% of ninth grade graduates to complete their studies in an excellence class by 2026.
An analysis of current data by Darca revealed a gender gap in the high-tech matriculation track. This year, 9% (91) of female twelfth-grade students are enrolled in this track. A deeper analysis found that in 23 of their schools, even when female students constitute the majority of those studying five-unit mathematics, the percentage of female students studying in the high-tech matriculation track (which includes physics or computer science) remains particularly low.
Consequently, Darca approached the foundation for support of a program aiming at increasing the number of female students in these 23 schools, located in Ashkelon, Gedera, Dimona, Jerusalem, Tirat Carmel, Lod, Kfar Qasem, Beit She’an, Katzrin, the Jordan Valley, and the Arava. The program’s goal is to substantially increase the number of female students graduating from the high-tech matriculation track within four years, reaching 153 female students.
Each of the 23 schools will prepare a workplan aligned with its specific data. Continuous efforts will be made across all schools to further increase the participation of female students in the five-unit mathematics track. In some schools, new physics and computer science classes will be opened. The schools will organize workshops for female students and meetings with female role models from high-tech.
In addition, 50 mathematics, physics, and computer science teachers from these 23 schools will participate in two professional learning communities focused on mental resilience skills and gender-sensitive pedagogy. These communities will be run in collaboration with an organization specializing in mental resilience skills. Darca will also organize seminars and conferences to engage school principals and educational staff in the effort.
This initiative is part of a broader Darca School program to strengthen science education across its schools. The comprehensive plan includes professional development for teaching staff, the establishment of laboratories and computer rooms, after-school tutoring, lectures for parents, and student visits to high-tech companies. The network’s goal is to drive significant progress throughout its schools.
* The text above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation’s Board of Directors / Grant 616