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עמוד:7
SCIENCE TEACHING The number of pupils in the 12 th grade who take physics and chemistry has been declining over the past few years , although in biology there has been an increase . In 1981 , of . the 13 , 000 in the .. There is yet a further drain on the potential reservoir of candidates . Until a generation ago , the main professions that were open to women were teaching , nursing , librarianship and social work . During the past few decades , almost all trades have been thrown open to women . Many of the more capable among them now seek careers other than teaching . The women's movement has thereby contributed to depressing the quality of teaching . The competition of the private sector and its attractiveness to highly qualified persons is also felt by the Israeli universities . They find it increasingly difficult to recruit academic staff of high calibre in electronics , computers , law and management . A fair assessment of the teacher problem must take into account the sudden increase in population and the need to press into the teaching service even persons who were not highly qualified . Indeed , one must marvel at the ability of the ministry to provide about 70 , 000 teachers for the Hebrew school system . As time goes by , one is no longer content to have simply a large teacher corps . One demands of them higher qualifications and greater effectiveness . It seems practically impossible to satisfy such demands in the school system as we know it today . A country with a population of about 3 . 5 million could not possibly be expected to produce 60 , 000 to 70 , 000 well qualified teachers . The manpower base is too small for such a large demand . Mass immigration and mass education have been mitigating factors that explain the present teacher problem , but such factors have a limited life span . We cannot invoke them forever . If we continue with the present pay , training and status of the teachers , we would retain , and even accentuate , the difficult problems facing the profession which , in turn , would erode the foundations of the whole system .
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