Text size related tags  Several weeks ago, with a mere whimper
and far from the eyes of the media, one of the most conspicuous
struggles waged by Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar in recent
years came to an end. This was his battle against the private
Havruta school in Emek Hefer, and in a broader context, against
private education as a whole.  One can understand Sa'ar; no one
likes to broadcast his failures. At the same time, the battle he
led in favor of bolstering public education was, in fact, an
escape from dealing with the true problem: the spread of some of
the characteristics of private education to the public schools.
In particular, public schools have recently begun to choose
students selectively and to take large sums of money from the
parents. From this point of view, the private schools have
already won. The virus has gained control of the body.  Havruta
already drew fire at its inauguration three years ago, largely
because of the scandalous fees it took from the parents - some
NIS 30,000 per year.