Israeli students return to classrooms as schools expand AI studies, ban phones

Artificial intelligence will feature more prominently in classrooms, with more than 12,000 English, science, and technology teachers expected to receive AI training.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

More than 2.6 million Israeli children are returning to classrooms Tuesday as the country begins a new school year, with schools facing a teacher shortage while introducing new restrictions on smartphones and expanding artificial intelligence studies.

About 180,000 children are entering first grade, while 143,000 12th-graders are beginning their final year in the education system.

The students are spread across nearly 28,000 kindergartens and schools.

Education Minister Yoav Kish said about 500 teaching positions remain unfilled, but education officials indicated the shortage is deeper, forcing some schools to use unqualified teachers and assign teachers to multiple classes.

The first week will focus on strengthening students’ social and emotional resilience, with schools instructed to address violence, social rejection, and bullying, both in person and online.

The Education Ministry is also rolling out financial education for ninth-graders and expanding science, technology, engineering, and mathematics studies.

Artificial intelligence will feature more prominently in classrooms, with more than 12,000 English, science, and technology teachers expected to receive AI training.

“We will continue to connect roots with the future: we will expand STEM and artificial intelligence studies, we will introduce financial education for the first time, and we will continue to promote innovative and personalized learning,” Kish said.

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Students in eighth and ninth grades will take a 20-hour course covering AI use, critical thinking, misinformation, and ethical issues. AI tools will also be incorporated into matriculation assignments in more than 10 STEM subjects.

Middle school students will face a new restriction this year: Mobile phone use will be prohibited on school grounds, including during breaks.

In communities near the Gaza border, 22,233 students are expected to begin the year in Sderot and four regional councils.

That represents an increase of about 9%, or 1,802 students, compared with the number living in the area on Oct. 7, 2023, as residents continue returning to communities evacuated after the Hamas-led attack.

The Tekuma Directorate said it is investing NIS 364 million ($121.8 million) in education across the region this year, including NIS 184 million ($61.5 million) for locally tailored programs, NIS 103 million ($34.4 million) for educational buildings and NIS 54 million ($18 million) for informal education.

“The increase in the number of students … reflects the return home, the strengthening of the communities and the transition of the Tekuma region from rehabilitation to growth,” said Aviad Friedman, head of the Tekuma Directorate.