SPECIAL EDUCATION

Education Department Director General:

The Regional Council’s Education Department, at the integration committee, assesses whether pupils are in need of special education, and if so, help place them in appropriate educational institutions both local and out-of-town.

The Nachal Soreq Regional Council boasts five special education preschools: one communications preschool for children on the autistic spectrum, and another four preschools with a language orientation.

Children are enrolled in these preschools after the integration and placement committees have made their decisions. The identification id done by the Ma’agan team that works in all of the daycare centers and pre-k 3s. The team consists of paramedical therapists and a developmental psychologists who identify children with difficulties. These professionals then provide parents with guidance regarding further therapy.

Integration Committee:

Should a teacher, parent, or the pupil themselves feel that they are experiencing difficulties, an integration committee convenes. The pupil goes through an integration committee at their school. The committee comprises a Ministry of Education representative, the homeroom teacher, the school guidance counselor or principal, and the pupil’s integration teacher (morat shiluv). The integration committee decides whether or not the pupil is entitled to hours at the Regional Community Support Center (מתי“א). Should the integration committee decide that the pupil’s difficulties are sufficiently significant, the pupil is escalated to the placement committee.