[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: Israeli universities apply an entrance age
requirement so that those who don't serve in the army or do national service
aren't rewarded with being able to attend university while others are in
national service. It still doesn't level the playing field since they can
spend this time studying and retaking the Israeli matriculation and
"psychometric" (an equivalent of the American SAT) tests to improve their
scores [entrance to almost all programs at Israeli universities are based
purely on these scores] while those serving the country find themselves
taking or re-taking these critical tests after not having been in a
classroom for years. This while the testing schedule for the matriculation
exams [which in some cases is only once a year with the results available
too late for application for the academic year] can mean losing another year
after completion of national service .]

Increasing numbers of Israeli Arabs studying at Jordanian universities
By Ofri Ilani Haaretz Last update - 04:40 01/11/2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1124913.html

Increasing numbers of Israeli Arab high school graduates are leaving the
country to study at Jordanian universities, according to a recent survey. A
decade ago fewer than 100 Arab Israelis were studying at Jordanian
institutions of higher learning, but last year this swelled to about 5,000.

According to the study, sponsored by Dirsat: The Arab Center for Law and
Policy, a major reason for the phenomenon is age requirements in many
departments at Israeli universities, as well as the language barrier.

hen Maria Shalash of the largely Arab city of Nazareth graduated from high
school two years ago, she wanted to study occupational therapy and
communication disorders. "The field interested me, and people also told me
that there were jobs [in the field]," she said.

Shalash tried to gain a place at the University of Haifa and was invited for
an interview. But the university later discovered she was under 20, which
disqualified her. She is now studying law, where there is no minimum-age
requirement.

De facto discrimination

Shalash is not alone. Thousands of young high school graduates who want to
study nursing or occupational or physical therapy have to wait until their
20th birthdays because of limitations by universities. Organizations
representing the Arab community are seeking to change the situation, saying
that it constitutes de facto discrimination against Israeli Arabs.

Though similar age requirements are not generally imposed by universities
abroad, Israeli universities say the policy is necessary to ensure that
students are emotionally mature. On the other hand, the Israel Defense
Forces allows recruits, most of whom are Jewish, to defer their military
service and enter university at age 18.

In recent years, Israel Arab civil rights organizations have sought to fight
the universities' minimum-age requirements. "This discrimination actually
harms [students seeking to study] in the fields that are most needed by the
Arab public," said Dirsat director Yusuf Jabarin. "Even if it was originally
not designed to harm Arab students, it is appropriate to consider abolishing
[the restrictions]."

A lawsuit filed by the Nazareth-based Karameh human rights organization
seeking to abolish the age provisions is currently pending in Tel Aviv
District Court.

"I finished high school with good grades and I wanted to do paramedical
studies," said Fadel Sa'adi, who hails from an Arab village in the north.
"Ultimately I decided to study nursing, but I couldn't because I wasn't 20.
I didn't have anything to do so I worked in construction."

A spokesman for the University of Haifa declined to comment on the matter
because it was the subject of legal proceedings. Ben-Gurion University of
the Negev said that age is a "criterion that is a predictor of success
relating to the need to deal with practical experiences." He said that "the
university has an interest in maximizing the success rate [of its
students]."

The university noted that there are other areas such as the granting of
firearms licenses or a bus or taxi driver's license where the applicant
needs to be over 18. Regarding the army's program that allows 18-year-olds
to enter university, a spokesman said that "the university fulfills the
dictates of the Israel Defense Forces ... on the understanding that it
involves an important national need."