The Education Ministry announced Wednesday a new comprehensive education program about the Holocaust to be taught to all students from kindergarten through high school.
The new program, “In the path of memory” was formulated by a joint committee comprised of Holocaust experts, psychologists and educational consultants from the Education Ministry and the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem.
“On Holocaust Remembrance Day the kindergarten age children are exposed to the siren that sounds across Israel, and the special broadcasts in the media on the topic. As children do, they absorb the information without the cognitive or emotional ability to comprehend and draw meaning from it,” an Education Ministry statement explained.
“The main role of adults and educators on this day is to help the children organize the information they absorbed while preserving their sense of security,” the ministry added.
The kindergarten teachers will advise parents how to talk to their children about the Holocaust. In addition, kindergarten teachers have been told by the Education Ministry not to show photographs from the era.
For first and second grade pupils, the ministry has similarly advised teachers to present a non-threatening presentation of history.
The ministry decided that teachers of these grades would focus on a central figure from the period that could create empathy among the students.
Schools across Israel will mark Holocaust Remembrance Day with ceremonies on April 27.
http://www.jpost.com/National-News/New-Holocaust-education-program-in-Israel-to-start-in-kindergarten-350335
