By Ayanawo Farada Sanbatu
Haaretz
Eighty Ethiopian immigrant children, whose families transferred in recent months from absorption centers to permanent homes in Petah Tikvah, are still looking for schools that will agree to accept them for the upcoming school year .
The immigrants cannot be accepted to state secular schools as they have yet to finish their conversion process. The state-religious schools — where they are supposed to finish the conversion process — are not willing to accept them either, since the local authorities are concerned that they will scare off other students to private religious schools, leaving only the poverty stricken children in the state-religious schools.
Private religious schools in Petah Tikva are also unwilling to receive them.
“It is inconceivable that independent religious schools, which receive funding from the Education Ministry and the local authority, will refuse to accept children to their schools”, the Ethiopian immigrants said on Tuesday.
“If the schools would refuse to receive children from other communities, the public would shout out. All our children want to do is go to school and then the army to serve their country. But when the state needs to supply them with the education they deserve, they turn a blind eye.”
Abraharm Nagosa, Chairman of an umbrella group of Ethiopian immigrant organizations, said “the Education Ministry has abandoned the Ethiopian immigrant children once again. I call upon the education minister to address this issue herself and ensure that all citizens of the state receive the equal education they deserve.”
The Education Ministry responded, saying “the ministry is aware of the issue and is dealing with it. A meeting took place Tuesday with the local authority and in the next few days a second meeting will take place between all the relevant parties in order to find a suitable solution to the matter.”
The Petah Tikva local authority said in response that “director-general of the Education Ministry Shmuel Abuav met Wednesday with Mayor Yizhak Ohayun to discuss the matter and it was decided that the Abuav would summon the principals of the private schools in order to convince them to accept the children.”