Gedera

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Make a Difference in Gedera

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The Challenge

Gedera is one of the oldest towns in Israel, founded in 1884, located in the Center District of Israel. The city is known as an Ir Yeladim, “a city of children”, because of its emphasis on the needs of its children.

The town’s total population is 23,800 (CBS, 2011). 1,508 Ethiopian-Israelis are living in this city, 239 of which are between 13 and 18 years old. 

Higher chance for dropouts, poorer academic performances and segregation with the mainstream Israeli society among Ethiopian-Israelis in Gedera

Despites the city’s emphasis on children, there are still Ethiopian-Israeli youth at-risk. Gedera has faced in the past and still faces challenges regarding the Ethiopian-Israeli community: 
• Most of the Ethiopian-Israelis live in the Shapira neighborhood, which is the place that suffered for a long time with high dropout rates and poor academic performances. 
• There is still segregation between the Ethiopian-Israeli community and mainstream Israeli society. The reason for this is that many of the youngsters are strongly connected to their traditional culture and they prefer to hang out with other Ethiopian-Israelis. 

ENP's Response

Building confidence: a lessening of segregation between Ethiopian-Israeli teenagers and mainstream Israeli society

With the Scholastic Assistance Program, ENP tries to improve students’ achievements and makes them feel appreciated in order to raise their confidence levels. This program in Gedera: 

• consists of around 143 students;
• had 52% of the 12th grade students that graduated with a full matriculation certificate in 2010-2011. This is in contrast to their Ethiopian-Israeli peers nationwide, where only 40% graduated with a full matriculation certificate;
• has had a consistent increase over the years in the number of students transferring to good quality high schools in Gedera: an outstanding 94% of the 2010-11 9th graduates transferred to good quality high schools in Gedera in 2011-2012.

Besides this scholastic program, ENP also has a Youth Outreach Center in the city. By holding numerous of activities, the center strengthens the teens’ personal development and self-confidence, raising their aspirations for the future and encouraging their integration into mainstream Israeli society.

• During 2011-2012 approximately 102 teens attended and benefited from the ENP Youth Outreach Center.
• The vast majority of the teens are also active in local, heterogeneous youth movements (together with their non-Ethiopian peers).
• 2 of the teens are active in the citywide youth council.
• Close to half of the teens participate in organized activities outside of the framework of the Center. These include soccer, junior soccer and dance workshops.

Did you know that…

During the first half of 2010-2011, the high school students focused specifically on math, history and on coping with pre-exam nerves. A "learning marathon" was held during the winter vacation in preparation for the winter matriculation exams. The 9th graders had been working towards the high school entrance exams and special activities for the new 7th graders were created to ease the transfer from elementary school to junior high school. Teachers reported noticeable in the 7th graders' motivation, behavior, diligence and investment in their studies as a result of these activities.