Lobbying for Equality in Higher Education

At the university Arab students are not given the same oppportunities Jewish students receive. Descrimination exists inside the university halls. CEGAS works with the academic institutions, the government, and the courts to solve these problems. Here are the current activities of the Equal Rights Project:

1. Acceptance criteria for the pre-academic preparatory year (mechina) at the University of Haifa.

   Students from Arab high schools were rejected from the mechina on the basis of a high Hebrew language requirement. Only students from Jewish high schools were accepted. Arabs were not given the equal opportunity to learn on the basis that their high school did not offer a high level of Hebrew. We met with university officials and they have waived the language requirement for schools where the language of study is Arabic.

2. Acceptance criteria for student housing at the University of Haifa.

   Arab students with a demonstrated need for housing are being turned down by the University. The housing lottery at the University of Haifa is based on a ranking system. Students are given points based on demonstrated need. Army service receives heavy weight in the ranking. 15% of the total possible points are granted to students who have served. The majority of Arab students do not perform military service. The ranking pushes them down in the lottery. Adalah (the Legal Center for Rights of Palestinian Arabs in Israel), and the Association for Civil Rights took this matter to court but the case was not accepted. MK Tamar Baganski has urged the University to change their policy.

3. Age discrimination in acceptance to the University of Haifa.

   Applicants to the University of Haifa's departments of social work, physiotherapy and occupational therapy have minimum age requirements over 18. This is not a problem for Jewish students. They begin studying only after they have served in the army. But Arab students must wait a year or two. These students study something else instead of waiting at home. There is a now a lack of Arab professionals in these fields. The University is unwilling to eliminate the age requirement.

4. Acceptance criteria for the pre-academic preparatory year at the Hebrew University.

   Acceptance to the pre-academic preparatory year at the Hebrew University requires a higher score in Hebrew than is required for acceptance to regular studies at the University. Following pressure from CEGAS, Adalah (the Legal Center for Rights of Palestinian Arabs in Israel) and the Association for Civil Rights, the University created a committee to encourage higher education in the Arab sector. The committee has presented its recommendations to the administration and is currently waiting for funding.

5. Local college advertisement of fall registration.

   Before 1999, universities and local colleges advertised their registration deadlines only in the Hebrew and Russian newspapers. They did not advertise in the Arab papers. After contacting the national universities, they have begun to publish to the Arab community. But the Union of Local Colleges still does not publish in the Arab papers.

6. Appropriate dates for the Psychometric Exam.

   There are only limited testing dates for the Psychometric Exam in Arabic. Arab students do not have the same flexibility as Jewish students. When testing dates were set close to the Ied el Adha holiday, we demanded that more dates be added. The head of the National Council for Testing and Evaluation, Dr. Yoav Cohen, has added more testing dates.

7. The Mula Project in the Arab sector.

   The Ministry of Education operates the Mula Project to encourage higher education in peripheral towns. The project had not been operating in any Arab towns. CEGAS brought this issue to the Knesset's Five-Year Committee on Arab Education. The Ministry of Education has now allocated 4.5 million NIS for the implementation of the Mula Project in the Arab sector.

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