Ministry of Education (Israel)

Ministry of Education
Israel

משרד החינוך‎
Ministry of Education Headquarters
Agency overview
Formed	1949
Preceding agencies	Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport Ministry of Education and Culture
Jurisdiction	Government of Israel
Headquarters	Lev Ram Building, Musrara, Jerusalem
Annual budget	42 billion New Shekel
Website	cms.education.gov.il

The Israeli Ministry of Education (Hebrew: מִשְׂרָד הַחִנּוּךְ‎, translit. Misrad HaHinukh) is the branch of government charged with overseeing public education institutions in Israel. The department is headed by the Minister of Education, who is a member of the cabinet. The ministry has previously included culture and sport, although this is now covered by the Ministry of Culture and Sport.

History

Ministry offices on Street of the Prophets in Jerusalem

In the first decade of statehood, the education system was faced with the task of establishing a network of kindergartens and schools for a rapidly growing student population. In 1949, there were 80,000 elementary school students. By 1950, there were 120,000 - an increase of nearly 150 percent within the span of one year. Israel also took over responsibility for the education of Arab schoolchildren. The first minister of education was Zalman Shazar, later president of the State of Israel. Since 2002, the Ministry of Education has awarded a National Education Award to five top localities in recognizing excellence in investing substantial resources in the educational system. In 2012, first place was awarded to the Shomron Regional Council and followed by Or Yehuda, Tiberias, Eilat and Beersheba. The prize has been awarded to a variety of educational institutions including kindergartens and elementary schools.

List of ministers

#	Minister	Party	Governments	Term start	Term end	Notes
Minister of Education and Culture
1	Zalman Shazar	Mapai	1	10 March 1949 (1949-03-10)	1 November 1950 (1950-11-01)
2	David Remez	Mapai	2	1 November 1950 (1950-11-01)	19 May 1951 (1951-05-19)	Died in office
3	David Ben-Gurion	Mapai	2	19 May 1951 (1951-05-19)	8 October 1951 (1951-10-08)	Serving Prime Minister
4	Ben-Zion Dinur	Mapai	3, 4, 5, 6	8 October 1951 (1951-10-08)	3 November 1955 (1955-11-03)
5	Zalman Aran	Mapai	7, 8, 9	3 November 1955 (1955-11-03)	10 May 1960 (1960-05-10)
6	Abba Eban	Mapai	9, 10	3 August 1960 (1960-08-03)	26 June 1963 (1963-06-26)
–	Zalman Aran	Mapai, Alignment	11, 12, 13	26 June 1963 (1963-06-26)	15 December 1969 (1969-12-15)
7	Yigal Allon	Alignment	15, 16	15 December 1969 (1969-12-15)	3 June 1974 (1974-06-03)
8	Aharon Yadlin	Alignment	17	3 June 1974 (1974-06-03)	20 June 1977 (1977-06-20)
9	Zevulun Hammer	National Religious Party	18, 19, 20	20 June 1977 (1977-06-20)	13 September 1984 (1984-09-13)
10	Yitzhak Navon	Alignment	21, 22, 23	13 September 1984 (1984-09-13)	15 March 1990 (1990-03-15)
–	Zevulun Hammer	National Religious Party	24	11 June 1990 (1990-06-11)	13 July 1992 (1992-07-13)
11	Shulamit Aloni	Meretz	25	13 July 1992 (1992-07-13)	11 May 1993 (1993-05-11)
12	Yitzhak Rabin	Labor	25	11 May 1993 (1993-05-11)	7 June 1993 (1993-06-07)	Serving Prime Minister
Minister of Education, Culture and Sport
13	Amnon Rubinstein	Meretz	25, 26	3 May 1994 (1994-05-03)	18 June 1996 (1996-06-18)
–	Zevulun Hammer	National Religious Party	27	18 June 1996 (1996-06-18)	20 January 1998 (1998-01-20)	Died in office
14	Yitzhak Levy	National Religious Party	27	25 February 1998 (1998-02-25)	6 July 1999 (1999-07-06)
Minister of Education
15	Yossi Sarid	Meretz	28	6 July 1999 (1999-07-06)	24 June 2000 (2000-06-24)
16	Ehud Barak	One Israel	28	24 September 2000 (2000-09-24)	7 March 2001 (2001-03-07)	Serving Prime Minister
Minister of Education, Culture and Sport
17	Limor Livnat	Likud	29, 30	7 March 2001 (2001-03-07)	14 January 2006 (2006-01-14)
18	Meir Sheetrit	Kadima	30	18 January 2006 (2006-01-18)	4 May 2006 (2006-05-04)
Minister of Education
19	Yuli Tamir	Labor	31	4 May 2006 (2006-05-04)	31 March 2009 (2009-03-31)
20	Gideon Sa'ar	Likud	32	31 March 2009 (2009-03-31)	18 March 2013 (2013-03-18)
21	Shai Piron	Yesh Atid	33	18 March 2013 (2013-03-18)	4 December 2014
22	Naftali Bennett	The Jewish Home	34	14 May 2015

External links

• Ministry of Education
• All Ministers in the Ministry of Education and Culture Knesset website