Education Minister Yoav Galant (Likud) made a trip to the town of Beit El in the Binyamin Regional Council area on Tuesday, and participated in a ceremony during the course of which computers were handed out to children learning in one of the local schools. “The coronavirus presents us with a unique challenge – one that I hope we will succeed in overcoming in the near future,” Galant said. “Hopefully, by the time the next academic year begins, next fall, we will no longer have coronavirus to contend with. Vaccines are on their way, and I hope that they will enable us to rid ourselves of this disease for good.” Speaking with Arutz Sheva , Galant described the government’s program for distributing computers to schools and students around the country, at a cost of over a billion shekels. “So far, we have handed out 60,000 computers out of the 150,000 that we plan to distribute by the end of the year,” he said. “This should help to close the gaps between students, and enable them to learn from home whenever distance learning is mandated. “I’m delighted to be here in Beit El,” he added, “not for the first time, as it happens, and not the first time as a government minister either. We built a wonderful community here when I was Housing & Construction Minister, and we plan to build an additional neighborhood too. Today I’m happy to be here again, handing out 137 computers to the children of Beit El. I hope I’ll be able to help the community again in the future – we have a lot of building to do, both here and all around the country.” Galant also commented on Monday’s coronavirus cabinet meeting , at which ministers agreed to allow students in fifth and sixth grades to resume in-class learning. “By now, we have been able to see that the resumption of learning in grades one to four, as well as in kindergartens and preschools, has not contributed to a rise in the rate of infection,” he notes. “That’s why we are now able to reopen grades five and six, and I hope that grades eleven and twelve will follow, and then gradually the other grades too. “Our primary concern is the welfare of the nation’s children,” he said, “and we are doing what we can to help our children to learn and thrive in a responsible manner.” רפאל לוי רפאל לוי רפאל לוי רפאל לוי רפאל לוי רפאל לוי
