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THE TEACHERS The teachers ought to be among the most prominent of the professionals , but their meagre pay does not reflect their vital service to society . I am placing the teachers at the beginning because they are the key to all systems of education . It is to the credit of the public that they still hold the teaching profession in high esteem . This was revealed in a survey carried out a few years ago by Dr . Vered Kraus of Haifa University . On a scale of 100 , the rating of school principals and school teachers varied between 93 and 78 . About 180 other occupations were ranked below them . It is gratifying that the public appreciates the work of the teachers . However ; this does not alter the fact that , given an option , the profession does not rank high in the career decisions of young men and women . In 1982 / 83 , the number of filled teaching posts in the Hebrew school system totalled 69 , 330 . * In elementary grades , only 15 per cent of the teachers held academic degrees . Half of all teachers in intermediate schools had such degrees , as did 70 per cent of secondary school teachers . 'This number must be regarded as approximate only , because som e sources give the number of teaching posts ( about 70 , 000 , Statis tical Abstract of Isra el . 1983 , p . 65 1 ) , some give the actual number of teachers employed ( about 60 , 000 , ibid .. p . 669 ) and others give full-time equivalents of teachers . ucation for all to the age of sixteen , one must expect a certain lowering of standards and a fair percentage of low achievers . This was a price which had to be paid , at least during the initial period , for opening the gates to a mass immigration of people who came from about seventy different ethnic groups . The thrust of this paper is not to join in the chorus of derogation but rather to suggest that the initial period which could explain weaknesses is past , that the school is now overage and has run its course . The present need is for a reassessment and for a search for other ways to assure an effective education for the young and to do so despite educational conservatism , vested interests and other obstacles .
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