Education Minister Halts National Tests and RAMA Cooperation, Threatening International Studies
Education Minister Yoav Kisch halted national assessment tests and RAMA cooperation, risking Israel's withdrawal from international studies and causing irreversible damage to school evaluations.
Education Minister Yoav Kisch's decision to halt national assessment tests and cooperation with the National Authority for Measurement and Evaluation in Education (RAMA) threatens to withdraw Israel from international studies and severely damage school evaluations.
In a sharp letter to the Education Ministry's legal adviser, RAMA Director-General Dr. Gal Alon warned of irreversible consequences, accusing the minister of undermining the authority's independence. Halting exams will prevent thousands of schools from participating in student evaluations, canceling Israel's participation in the TIMSS international study, freezing PIRLS and PISA data processing, and jeopardizing PISA 2029.
The fallout extends to the ultra-Orthodox education system, halting tests in the Independent Education network alongside some 40 evaluation studies including Reali Israel and Tkuma. Alon noted that the damage cannot be fully undone even if reversed.
Committee Findings and Allegations
The dispute escalated after Kisch ordered the halt citing low international rankings, accusing RAMA of unprofessionalism. However, Alon stressed that Kisch's own appointed committee found RAMA operated professionally and recommended no immediate suspension of international studies.
Alon accused the minister of aggressive behavior, citing an incident last September following PISA results where Kisch deployed security guards to forcibly block RAMA staff from entering a management meeting to present findings independently.
