Cyber and Tech Education in Israel: A Reality That Keeps Surprising

Picture walking into a closed stadium, decked out with a futuristic vibe, with some fifty tables in the middle of the field where teams of students are working. The event is hosted by a cast of costumed characters, with background music and light effects. Students arrive with their drones and program them on the spot to get through the different challenges. In two rooms next to the field, in parallel, elementary school students are programming robots to clear obstacles, and in a third room students are working through math exercises on computers in groups. They've stopped letting observers into that last room, because the level of concentration required demands it. This is the final of the annual Cyber competition, now in its fifth edition in Israel. Last year more than 300,000 students from some 1,900 schools across the country took part, according to figures published by the Israeli Ministry of Education.

I wasn't competing, but the adrenaline of watching drones pull off tricks and clear obstacles, or watching elementary school kids program a robot, is almost impossible to put into words. While my own look of astonishment gave me away, a father walked in beside me with his young son, his eyes just as wide, and explained to him what was happening. From the way they were dressed, it was clear they were traditionally religious. This whole scene would seem “normal” if what we were watching on the field were the national basketball championship final.

What two messages come through clearly to me about Cyber Education in Israel? First, Israel is investing in this area of education, where there is always work to be found: according to press headlines, Israel's tech sector faces a shortage of 15,000 workers. “It is becoming ever clearer that the growth required won't be possible if the country's supply of tech workers is inadequate,” said Eugene Kandel, director of Start-Up Nation Central. “Tech companies are struggling to find tech professionals, and many are already finding them abroad,” he added. This is also the foundation of some of Israel's most important national income, following an Exit (when a company is acquired by a larger, stronger company) — as happened, for example, with Intel's acquisition of Mobileye two years ago. “Israel is considered the Start-Up Nation, but the high-tech sector accounts for only around 8% of total employment. Nonetheless, this sector matters enormously to the economy, since it accounts for a quarter of Israel's income tax revenue, as well as a significant share of the added value of Israeli exports,” notes Gilad Brand in his work How Much Can the Israeli Start-Up Nation Grow?

On the other hand, in Israel the expectations of the “Yiddishe Mame” are changing. If in the past we were all supposed to aspire to become lawyers or doctors, in Israel that dream is shifting: young people want to be “hi-techists” and make an Exit. Clearly, not everyone will work in this sector, but the shift in the collective imagination about what children and young people aspire to should not be underestimated. The leaders of this sector may not have names as recognizable as football players, but at the very least the aspirations are changing, and that will shape our society and economy over the long run.

All of this is reflected in a series of programs that promote technology, engineering or computer science studies from an early age. Several examples illustrate this trend:

Naftali Bennett, the former minister of education, developed a mathematics curriculum that increases incentives for more students to study math and improves outcomes.

In elementary and middle school, curricula now include programs that teach students — through platforms such as CodeMonkey — basic coding, both to motivate them and to help them learn the logic behind programming languages.

Dr. Ofer Rimon, Deputy Director General and Director of Science and Technology Administration, has been developing programs in which studies in these fields become ever more varied and more heavily subsidized, with the goal of increasing the number of students in these areas.

The vast majority of educational institutions in Israel have projectors in their classrooms, laptop or tablet programs. Several schools have digital content providers, and in some cases the Ministry offers these free of charge.

At the secondary level there are ESHKOL PAIS centers for advanced-level science study, equipped with high-level facilities that go well beyond the small school laboratory.

The national CYBER competition in the fields of robotics, math and programming.

It seems the Israeli Ministry of Education is indeed watching closely what is happening in other sectors of society that new technologies have permeated. Israel is aware that its most important resource is human capital, and that the only way to keep developing the country is to invest in preparing generations for an uncertain future — one in which technology plays a key role. The question remains as to how equitably all this investment is reaching the different regions of the country. Either way, it is clear that the hi-tech sector has become the backbone of the Israeli economy. Investment in this area, from the earliest levels of education through the end of compulsory schooling, is therefore both logical and necessary.