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"It is … our duty as scientists to promote education, rational thinking and tolerance. We should also encourage our educated youth to become technological entrepreneurs. Those countries that nurture this knowhow will survive future financial and social crises. Let us advance science to create a better world for all."
Professor Dan Shechtman, winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2011, and member of World ORT’s Academic Advisory Council in Israel.

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"I think education is the fundamental component to South Africa being able to become a successful nation. Education should not be based on race, class, gender or ethnicity and ORT has ensured that people from all walks of life are afforded an equal chance for a better tomorrow.”
Johnny Clegg, musician and anthropologist.

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"Throughout the world, ORT schools provide a modern educational environment in which young people learn to appreciate time-honoured general values as well as get connected to Jewish values. The cutting edge technological orientation brought in by ORT positions Jewish schools at a much higher level, thus providing them with an ability to attract the generation who may otherwise remain unaffiliated."
Natan Sharansky

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"I have had occasion before to remark on the fact that ORT's activity does not base itself upon 'charity' but upon self help. Both for the work of rebuilding human lives and the great task of building a new nation in Israel, the acquisition of skills assumes an enormous importance. I want to assure you of my greatest admiration for the cause in which you are so nobly engaged."
Albert Einstein

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"Your vocational training activities … represent a constructive activity on a people-to-people level which deserves approbation … You are engaged in a work of great humanitarian significance. Yours is the type of meaningful program which transmits skills and technical knowledge as an aid to the modernization of communities and to the improvement of living standards. It is thus in consonance with the main currents of our times."
President John F. Kennedy

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"…ORT has provided an education for life to Jews and others in vulnerable communities throughout the world. In so doing, it has exemplified one of Judaism's greatest values. We are the people who predicated our very existence as a people on education, on 'teaching... diligently to our children.' … The civilizations of ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome have long since disappeared. Judaism still lives and flourishes and survives. ORT is testimony to that truth.”
Lord Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth

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16 Sep 2010 00:00 Age: 2 yrs
Category: News Update, Our Stories

Second chance students graduate with flying colours

A group of 60 underachieving youths have embarked on careers as technicians after an intensive two-year study programme supported by World ORT in partnership with the UJA-Federation of New York.   The young men, many of them olim from Ethiopia and the Former Soviet Union, graduated from the electronic engineering diploma course at Emek HaYarden College to take up positions in the Israeli Air Force – some of them in elite research units.   Theirs is a remarkable achievement because – although they were identified as having the potential to succeed – they had not gained the maths and physics qualifications normally required for enrolment.

These young men, pictured at the start of their studies, have a brighter future to look forward to.

“They were unable to realise their potential at school,” said Rony Kalinsky, Executive Director of World ORT’s programmatic arm in Israel, Kadima Mada. “But this programme has given them a second chance and they have passed it with flying colours. With this under their belt they can look forward to a significant and interesting service in the IDF and a reliable and rewarding civilian career; without it many of them would have been lucky to find work stacking supermarket shelves.”

The IDF, the Ministries of Education and Religious Affairs, and Youth Aliyah Organisation contributed to meeting the costs of the Adir BeMarom programme and World ORT also provided a number of scholarships to Ethiopian students.

One of them, Asher, made aliyah with his family six years ago.

“I have eight brothers and sisters and, since my parents are unemployed, it has been very difficult for us economically,” he said. “I decided to study for a degree in electronics engineering to enable me to assimilate more easily into Israeli society and to be able to support my family in the future… I will proudly serve my country when I join the air force.”

During the course Asher and the rest of what became known as the Kadima Mada Class lived at Adir BeMarom’s residential centre. There they found a warm, structured and supportive environment which helped them to meet the challenge of doing the extra studies necessary to keep up with the diploma course.

“Here they received all the encouragement they needed to cope with the lectures and the extra tuition provided by the college,” said Kadima Mada Projects Manager Sherrie Gazit. “They learned all the background that they missed by not continuing maths and physics at a high level at school and received help with the daily homework that all diploma students are given.”

In addition, the boys underwent a cultural enrichment programme that gave them a deeper understanding of, and appreciation for, the Land of Israel as well as study trips, Torah study and pastoral care.

Despite the extra workload, the Kadima Mada Class graduated at the same time as the other students – a clear sign of their motivation as well as the quality of the programme.

The graduates also benefit by having to serve for five years in the military instead of three – the final two years on full pay, which can be up to 10 times more than the stipend given to those doing regular national service.

“This means that they can enter civilian life not only with more practical experience in their new profession but, because they have few living expenses while on duty, also with a useful nest egg,” Ms Gazit said. “Their diploma is also recognised internationally so it can cut in half the time it would take them to do an engineering degree.”

Roni Rubenstein, Chair of the UJA-Federation of New York’s Ethiopian Israeli Task Force, said: “We are thrilled with the success of this programme and continues to be committed to the full integration of Ethiopian Israelis into Israeli society.”

Adir BeMarom Director Rabbi Itzik Laslo, who became a father figure to the boys on the programme, said Kadima Mada and his college enjoyed a deepening cooperative relationship.

“We have a joint objective,” Rabbi Laslo said, “to nurture and promote technological excellence among all populations in order to strengthen Israel’s army, security, economy and society with a deep understanding that the focal point is on national values, excellence in education and sharing the burden.”

Now, Adir BeMarom has received official recognition to be able to offer most of the diploma course on its new campus.

“This means that future participants in the programme would only have to travel to Emek HaYarden College once a week giving them more time to study and cutting costs,” Ms Gazit said. “Now we’re looking for funding to continue the programme and to equip the electronics laboratories at Adir BeMarom’s new college.”

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