Sigal Zioni in an extensive overview of the education system - the opening of the school year in Haifa

Before the start of the school year, I met Sigal Tzioni for an open conversation about the education system in Haifa. Sigal Tzioni is a member of the city council, holds the education portfolio (voluntarily), on behalf of the mayor's faction "Haim in Haifa", chairman of the committee for the advancement of children and youth, chairman of the Association of Cities for Special Education, chairman of the Center for the Promotion of Learning and chairman of the Parents' Directorate .
On 01/09/2019 the school year will begin. About 55,500 students will study in the municipal education system in Haifa, of which 12,000 are municipal kindergarten children, 25,000 elementary school students and 18,500 upper elementary school students

The challenges in education in the city of Haifa

Sigal Zioni: I want the parents, the children and the educational staff to have a good experience from the beginning. It all starts with experiences that serve in education and creating an atmosphere and climate that promote growth and development.
The first station the parent meets is the "registration". This is the first year that we have made a revolution at the very beginning of the educational journey in the kindergartens in the initial connection (registration), there is a link between registration for kindergarten and registration for afternoon. The thinking started in December 2018, as soon as I took office, we created a sequence based on holistic thinking starting from the registration phase in the years when the children are in the education system.

Education as a mission

ש: You have been volunteering in the field of education in Haifa for many years. What is the mission you are trying to fulfill, as a volunteer?

Sigal Tsioni: Every child is a whole world and the system must recognize this and give him proper consideration. This is the entire Torah on the tip of the fork, but to keep it we must control a wide variety of details.
The organizational component: In order to maintain an effective and growing system, a correct organizational structure is necessary. Synergy between systems and resource pooling.
The perceptual component: Education begins with creating an optimal atmosphere, infrastructure and climate that will allow growth and renewal in an educational space, in harmony with a changing urban profile and as a multicultural city that needs a response to all communities.

Aiming for an educational renewal that will go hand in hand with the urban renewal in all neighborhoods and building a "suit" for each neighborhood according to its needs and character. The goal is to produce a relevant and contemporary education system, an experience adapted to the sites and a changing reality, education is not a rally program, the race to the desired grade is not everything.

Studying in the internet age

The adult figure consists of the child's entire living environment and informal education is an integral part of education
The home and value education is critical. Dr. Google (google) in a digital age, provides a source of knowledge, but cannot replace the emotional incubator provided by teachers and administrators as significant adults, whose role is to provide learning tools and strategies adapted to individual needs and changing challenges.

The learning process today is gradually turning from a face-to-face experience to an experience of finding information and learning through technology, and that is where the teaching process should be directed.

Education from the age of 0

Education starts from the age of 0. Unfortunately, the State of Israel takes responsibility for the education system only from the age of 3, through the Compulsory Education Law. Early childhood should have been in the same format in order to create a pedagogical emotional continuum and proper supervision. During the last two years I have been working on preschool models and soon we will have news on the subject.

The installation tests

The placement tests focus on grades, but I don't believe that the grade is the be-all and end-all. Today there is a dispute regarding these tests and we are in the process of thinking with the Ministry of Education regarding this. Regarding the comparison between the schools, we must remember that the profile of the schools is not the same - each school has its own uniqueness and therefore we should avoid a situation where the schools will be measured by the Ministry of Education only based on the comparison of the installation scores. I wouldn't want to be in a situation where teachers and students learn just for the grade. I want to build an experiential system, both for the work of the teachers and for the students. The learning process is important - education is process work. At the moment, the installation creates a distortion that is incorrect and unfair, both towards the educational staff and towards the students.

A pampering environment in the teachers' rooms

A work environment for teachers should be pampering that everyone in the school will be envious, I would like the children to be envious of what the teacher has. The budget should be at the government level. A teacher's working conditions are less important than the grade, in the urban place as much as we manage to get a budget we will help, but we have budget limitations so we will think and make efforts. I believe that everyone in the schools, starting with the custodian, the cleaner, the service personnel, the manager, etc.. are an integral part and everyone should have a proper and respectful work environment.

The private schools

That: Is it acceptable to you that two private schools lead education in Haifa and that the state-urban schools lag behind? What are you going to do to change this disturbing situation, which has lasted for decades?

Sigal Zioni: The educational institutions that are defined in Haifa as private, for example: Rieli, Leo Buck and the private institutions in Arab education. Their funding sources:
► State budgets.
► Municipal aid.
► Parents' money.
Unlike the public system, the institutions finance and are able to provide students with a wider basket of services, due to an additional budget that comes from raising parents' money. Many parents are willing to pay the high sums, also to provide a better education, but also as a symbol of status.
The municipal-state educational institutions are also successful and achieve beautiful results on a pedagogical as well as a value level and we are very proud of what we are doing. We do not give up on any child and fight for all of them.

Locating additional public buildings for educational institutions

In the last month we have been working on mapping the buildings in the whole city, which were educational institutions in the past and are capable of being used as schools. The process began when we toured ultra-orthodox educational institutions, saw students studying in substandard conditions and decided that this situation required treatment. We want to provide an equal response to all the students of the city of Haifa, including the ultra-Orthodox students. The State of Israel recognized ultra-Orthodox education as an institution defined as "recognized and unofficial". This definition requires transferring to these institutions the budgets they deserve, according to the Nahari Law, and there are still huge gaps in terms of infrastructure. We work for this population with the recognition that these are residents of the city of Haifa, who pay property taxes like any resident and deserve the same conditions.

Children with special needs

ש: What issues need attention today regarding children with special needs?

Sigal Tsioni: The special education system is being reformed by the Ministry of Education. At the same time, we as an authority prepared in advance in order to create, alongside the processes at the state level, a complementary and supportive service system for special education children. Special education is going through a process of perceptual revolution that is manifested in a number of issues: a center that works about a month before the beginning of the year and that accompanies the processes of accepting children in schools, we introduced 6 hubs into the system that will provide a holistic response to the needs of parents, the professionals will build the clusters according to the needs in the field, some of the students are integrated today in regular education. We have established a complete system for special education so that we as an authority can respond to the children and their parents and adapt the system to the definitions of the integration law in the regular education classes.

The bilingual school

That: Why did you insist on moving this school to the Gate of Aliyah and do you think this move will be successful?

Sigal Zioni: The bilingual route is a unique route that is suitable for the city of Haifa, which is a mixed city, where there is a good and special relationship between Jews and Arabs. The track was established as a growing track at the Ahmadiyya school in the Kabbir neighborhood (a growing track - adds a class every year). The Ahmadiyya school suffered from overcrowding and the building could not accommodate the additional classrooms. As soon as we took office, within the framework of the new municipality, we received a request from representatives of parents who accepted that their children were in poor conditions and therefore we decided to embark on a joint process with the Ministry of Education and the "Yad Yad" association for a process of taking care of the needs of this unique institution. Several alternatives were examined and the most suitable, in the opinion of the professional staff, was at the "Hofit" school in Shaar Aliya, because the school's principal had integrated Arab students and teachers years before with great success at Beit Sifra.
The Beach School remains as it is, with its uniqueness and in addition, it will host the bilingual track, which is run as a separate unit, with a separate principal, a separate agenda and a separate curriculum. Hofit was chosen to provide a solution because of the location, the administration, the infrastructure, the availability and the ability to lead a temporary process at the end of which the students of the bilingual school will receive a completely separate campus of their own.
We believe and hope that a school with the "bilingual" track will be a positive example and model for the whole country.

Violence, drugs and alcohol

ש: How do you intend to act in order to eradicate or reduce the phenomenon of: violence, drugs and alcohol, among teenagers in schools in Haifa. Recently we hear about the phenomenon also from elementary schools...

Sigal Zioni: The information should also be in the schools, but the most important information should go through the parents, they are the ones who need to know what the risky behaviors are among their children. The parent should wait for the child at the entrance to the house, when the child comes from recreation and smell him. Being the chairman of the parents' committee, I initiated trainings for parents to detect risky behavior, including visits to clubs and public gardens. Currently there is a lack of information and training for parents and in my opinion this is a gap that needs to be addressed. , in the areas where the youth hang out. By virtue of my position as chairman of the Committee for the Advancement of Children and Youth, I go down to the field with the committee, visiting every place where there are interfaces with youth. I would also like to involve the municipal youth council in this process, since my perception is that we do not talk about the youth, but rather talk with the youth.

Training of assistants

ש: What kind of training do the assistants go through in the kindergartens and does it match your expectations?

Sigal Tsioni: We established a municipal system to assist in regular education, to assist in special education and, for the first time, also for after-school groups, when each group is treated separately. We are interested in promoting them according to needs. Investment in human resources is an investment that proves itself. The more they invest in the teams, I believe the results will be consistent.

Youth movements in Haifa

ש (Nega Karmi): Do you think that the youth movements in Haifa are adequately budgeted? How are you going to help them? Money, structure, sanitation? I, as a parent, financed all the activities my daughter did for 4 years. The nest was in the shelter at the Tschernihovski school, there were appalling conditions: mice and rats, they often called the sanitation department to treat the infestation in the summer they were in the yard and in the winter they were not given a closed building they often had to cancel activities or conduct activities in the guides' houses
Why aren't they allocated proper buildings for the youth movements or alternatively why aren't they allowed to use the experimental facilities that are usually found in the neighborhoods?

Sigal Tsioni: Immediately upon taking office, the mayor increased the budget for youth movements. She gave up funds from her spokespeople because we recognized that the youth is the most important investment for the next budget.

Proper nutrition and obesity

ש: Child obesity - how does your system intend to help in the field?

Sigal Tsioni: I was part of a program that started in the city when I led the parents' committee, the project "Sew me to be healthy", a project that started over a decade ago. The project started with kindergartens and educational institutions. We served as a national model that was very successful. Obesity results from unhealthy eating and lack of physical activity. We are raising an agreeable generation. In recent years, a program of workshops has been held in Haifa, which we introduced to the parents' directorate: "Healthy eating" and "The screen generation", I believe that with parents' awareness and the work of the teams at the Ministry of Education we can reduce the phenomenon.

Parental intervention and involvement in the education system

ש: All these years you were on the side of the parents (parents council) now you are on the other side (of the establishment) what is the line between parental involvement in the education system and where is there room for cooperation?

Sigal Tsioni: I grew up in parents' councils, I grew out of the parents' councils... parents are inseparable from the system, it is impossible to promote an education system without the involvement and harnessing of parents, they need to be harnessed in an intelligent way. At the same time, sometimes there are cases where the parents do not understand the boundaries between the professionals and themselves. The parents' directorate was established in Haifa, among other things, in order to understand the boundaries as well as to provide proper guidance to parents, to properly structure the dialogue between the teaching staff and parents, to properly define the partnerships, and more. Being a representative of parents in the parents' committee and influencing the education system is a huge privilege, but you have to get there when you know how to do it the right way.

Recruitment to the IDF

Sigal Zioni: I came to visit the recruiting office with the head of the company and youth directorate. Together with the mayor, we met with all the parties, in order to receive the recruitment data in Haifa. We see service in the IDF as an integral part of shaping the character of the graduate. The education system will continue to invest so that Haifa continues to lead with impressive figures in the recruitment field.

In conclusion

Sigal Zioni: Only those who recruit all the partners achieve success, I work in partnership with the district administration and the supervision of the Ministry of Education and teachers' organizations. Education is done together - only together can we achieve results.
My work with the mayor is an experience. I want to thank her for the trust, when she believes she is a full partner and gives full support and the professional tools for success. Education and youth in her soul, she is available for me at all hours of the night and that is not obvious. For me it is a real experience of doing with a lot of love.

About Sigal Zioni

Siegel was born in Haifa. She is a 3rd generation Haifaite. Her family settled in the city even before the establishment of the state. Sigal is married + 3 (two sons and a daughter). Siegel has been working for 33 years in the field of travel and airlines. For 28 years, she has been engaged in voluntary work in the field of education, the status of the child, the youth and the parents.
Siegel says:
"I came to the field of education out of a mission. My children, in their youth, wanted a mother just for themselves and it didn't work out so well for them when I got to the city council. I told them: I'm going to be everyone's mother and influence the whole system."

Sigal Zioni: Towards the beginning of the school year, I wish everyone - parents, children, the entire teaching staff and service providers a happy, fruitful and successful year with lots of work, teamwork and most importantly lots of love.