Shortage of quality English language teachers in the education system

According to the Ministry of Education, of the 19,000 English language teachers in the education system, only 12,000 (about 40%) were trained to teach the English language, and there remains a shortage of 660 teachers.
 
In 2017, the Education Ministry launched a national program for advancing English language instruction in the education system. A State Comptroller report noted that despite the program's partial success, it was significantly reduced in 2020. TALMA, the Israel Program for Excellence in English, which was launched in 2014 and employs English language teachers, most of whom are Jewish, operates mainly in a summer school format and in Israel's outlying regions.
 
TALMA CEO Ido Mahatzri said, "Over the past decade, we have brought more than 2,500 teachers from all over the world to teach English to teenagers, but this is still not enough. In order to fill the ranks, we must increase the amount of teachers by also bringing [to Israel] teachers who are not eligible under the Law of Return. Removing this bureaucratic barrier can bring about a revolution and significantly improve Israeli children's command of the English language." After hearing about the difficulties of issuing work visas for foreign teachers, Committee Chair MK Taieb requested that the Ministry of Education submit its professional opinion on the matter, and called upon the ministry to cooperate with the Population and Immigration Authority in order to facilitate the issuing of visas for foreign teachers.  
 
Education Ministry Deputy Director General Iris Bitton addressed the plan for employing teachers who are foreign nationals. "People who are not citizens of the state cannot be employed in the civil service, aside from specific cases in the recognized but unofficial education system," she explained. "In addition, teaching has an identity aspect to it, so teachers who teach in the Israeli education system have to identify with the local population." Bitton presented various programs of the Education Ministry for recruiting new immigrant teachers, returning teachers who had mastered the English language abroad, and graduates of English language programs in institutions of higher education.  
 
Tziona Levy, the Education Ministry's Chief Inspector for Languages, said "The need for quality English teachers will always exist, and it has always been a problem. It requires is to use top-grade technology, and this is what we are doing. We have developed digital courses that every school can receive for free." Committee Chair MK Taieb expressed his concern that a proper response would not be given to the Haredi and Bedouin populations. "After experiencing the corona, we saw that hybrid doesn't work, or works only partially," he said.    
 
Michal Ophir, CEO of Hilma - Tech for Impact, said "90,000 students use Capish, a program we developed for studying English that achieves great results within a few weeks. Schools can purchase the program through the [Ministry of Education's] Geffen Program."
 
At the conclusion of the debate, Committee Chair MK Taieb said the committee recommends examining additional solutions within the education system for English language instruction, such as incorporating university students and high-tech workers in English language instruction in schools, assigning pupils who excel in English to help pupils in elementary school, and more.