Israel’s education system is short 3,000 educators and 200 kindergarten teachers, including 100 in special education, as of the end of July, according to a report from KAN News.<\/p>\n
The shortage is primarily concentrated in scientific topics and is most prevalent in the Tel Aviv and Central districts.<\/p>\n
In July 2025, the lack of educators stood at 5,000, which would theoretically indicate an improvement on the part of the Education Ministry<\/a>. However, the reduction in numbers can be partly attributed to teachers taking on subjects outside of their wheelhouse.\u00a0<\/p>\n For example, the past year saw sports teachers taking on English classes, for which they’re not appropriately trained, and physical education teachers leading lessons in computing. As such, concern is mounting that this school year will see one teacher leading two classes at a time.<\/p>\n Though pitfalls in education systems are a global issue, Israel’s shortage is notably extreme. In the percentage of principals who report a decline in the quality of teaching due to a shortage of teachers, Israel ranks third-to-last after the Netherlands<\/a> and Latvia.<\/p>\n This report comes after Israeli teachers threatened to go on strike in June due to staffing shortages.<\/p>\n At the time, the Teachers’ Union had given an ultimatum<\/a> to limit the integration of children with disabilities into classrooms over concerns that schools did not have sufficient resources to support each student’s needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n