Bar-Ilan University submitted a petition to the High court of Justice on Tuesday against the Education Ministry in a bid to establish a mandatory curriculum for educating about democracy, human rights and co-existence for all of its schools, a press release from the university highlighted.
The petition was submitted by The Clinic for the Advancement of Equality at Bar-Ilan University, based on their view that the ministry has not done enough to ensure civic education, despite previous calls from the Knesset, the State Comptroller, public committees, and requests from the clinic itself.
Itzik Dessie, a social activist and human rights lawyer from the Ethiopian community, said that the Education Ministry failed to educate about human rights and co-existence, and caused increased discrimination against him. This prompted Dessie to be involved in the submission of the petition.
In the petition, the claimants say the Education Ministry knowingly neglected to implement civic education, based on government recommendations, for decades.
The petition also refers to the consequences of the failure, including violating the constitutional right of Israeli students, not giving youth tools for good citizenship and impairing the State's ability to promote normal citizen interactions.
The petition further claimed that the apparent neglect by the ministry leads to racism later on for high school graduates into their adult lives.