LawEducation
Compulsory Education Law, 5709-1949
חוק לימוד חובה, תש"ט-1949
Published: 1949-09-18Consolidated Hebrew text as of 2025-10-27 · Last amended 2024-11-07✓ Amendment status checked against the Knesset legislation record on 2026-09-29
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Chapter III: Free Education
Right to Free Education§
6.
(a)The following are entitled to free education at an official educational institution:
(1)a person to whom compulsory education applies pursuant to this Law, unless the person has completed studies pursuant to a grade 12 curriculum;
(2)a person aged 18 who has completed only studies pursuant to a grade 11 curriculum.
(a1)(Repealed)
(b)The Minister may grant free education, in addition to those referred to in subsection (a), to a person who has not yet completed studies pursuant to a grade 12 curriculum, until the person completes them, in accordance with rules, criteria, conditions and qualifications prescribed in Regulations, after consultation with the Education and Culture Committee of the Knesset.
(c)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), the Minister may, by Order, direct that a person whose studies at an official educational institution cannot, in the Minister's opinion, be assured – shall study at another educational institution, and the State Treasury shall bear the cost of his or her tuition at such institution, on the conditions prescribed in that Order.
(d)A person entitled to free education pursuant to this section shall not be required to pay registration fees or any other payment for his or her studies at an official educational institution or for his or her studies at another educational institution whose tuition costs are borne by the State Treasury pursuant to subsection (c); however, the local education authority within whose area of jurisdiction the educational institution in which the person studies is located, and in respect of an educational institution that is not official – that local education authority or the owner of the institution, shall be entitled, with the approval of the Minister, to collect payments and reimbursement of expenses, at rates to be determined by the Minister, for supplies provided to the person and for services provided to the person in addition to the services which the Minister has defined in Regulations as standard services; the Minister's approval and determination of the rates of payments and reimbursement of expenses shall require the approval of the Education and Culture Committee of the Knesset.
(d1)
(1)A person entitled to free education pursuant to this section shall be insured under personal accident insurance, through the local education authority within whose area of jurisdiction the educational institution in which the person studies is located; the local education authorities shall enter into an insurance contract as aforesaid with the person who won a tender conducted in accordance with the provisions of section 198b of the Municipalities Ordinance, and in accordance with the arrangement prescribed in that section;
(2)Within the framework of the payments pursuant to subsection (d), the Minister shall, prior to the publication of the tender referred to in paragraph (1), determine the payment to be collected from the insured persons and shall include uniform insurance premiums as well as the maximum rate of brokerage fees that an insurer shall be permitted to pay to insurance agents for brokerage in respect of the insurance; in this section, "insurer" and "insurance agent" – as defined in the Financial Services Supervision Law (Insurance), 5741-1981, and "brokerage fees" – as defined in section 41 of that Law.
(e)The provisions of subsection (d) do not derogate from the provisions of section 8 of the State Education Law, 5713-1953, and in respect of an educational institution that is not official – from the force of an undertaking to bear the costs of a programme for additional hours beyond the hours prescribed in the curriculum.
(f)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b), every local education authority shall supply free of charge to every youth studying at an official educational institution for working youth within its area of jurisdiction, books, notebooks, writing materials and other equipment required for his or her studies.
Designation of Payment Funds§
6a.
(a)Payments as referred to in section 6(d) and (d1) and also any other payment received, directly or indirectly, from a person entitled to free education pursuant to section 6 who studies at an official educational institution or at another educational institution whose tuition costs are borne by the State Treasury pursuant to section 6(c), whether it is a compulsory payment or a non-compulsory payment (in this section – payments), shall be used only for the purposes for which they are intended.
(b)The local education authority or the owner of an educational institution shall hold the payment funds in a separate bank account (in this section – the bank account) designated solely for this purpose; in this section, "separate bank account" means a separate bank account for each educational institution in which the payment funds received in respect of the pupils of that institution shall be managed.
(c)Funds remaining in the bank account at the end of each school year shall be returned to the pupils from whom they were collected, or shall be deducted from the payment they are required to make in the following school year, at such time and in such manner as the Minister shall prescribe, with the approval of the Education and Culture Committee of the Knesset.
(c1)Payment funds held in the bank account shall be exempt from attachment.
(d)The Minister, with the approval of the Education and Culture Committee of the Knesset, shall prescribe provisions for the implementation of this section, including with regard to the management of the bank account and methods of auditing its management, and also with regard to granting a right of inspection and reporting to parents and the parents' committee at the educational institution, in respect of the payment funds and their management.
Responsibility for Providing Free Compulsory Education§
7.
(a)The State is responsible for the provision of free compulsory education pursuant to this Law.
(b)The maintenance of official educational institutions for the provision of free compulsory education pursuant to this Law for children and youth residing within the area of jurisdiction of a particular local education authority shall be the joint responsibility of the State and that local education authority. The Minister, after consultation with the Minister of the Interior and with the Education and Culture Committee of the Knesset, shall prescribe, by Order published in Reshumot (Official Gazette), for each school year and for each local education authority, the rate of participation of the State and of the local education authority in the maintenance of the official educational institutions in which compulsory education is provided for children and youth residing within the area of jurisdiction of that local education authority.
(c)The Minister may, by Order, require a local education authority, or several local education authorities jointly, to open and maintain official educational institutions for compulsory education.
Payments in respect of pupils studying in another local education authority§
7a.
(a)
(1)A local education authority within whose area there does not exist a suitable educational institution for a child or youth residing within its area who is entitled to free education (in this Section – the sending authority), which sends, in accordance with the provisions of this Section, the child or youth to a suitable educational institution situated within the jurisdiction of another local education authority (in this Section – the receiving authority), shall pay the participation amount referred to in subsection (b) (in this Section – the participation amount) in respect of that child or youth;
(2)The sending authority shall pay the participation amount, in accordance with the provisions of this Section, to the receiving authority or to the proprietor of the suitable educational institution to which the child or youth has been sent, as determined by the receiving authority;
(3)A sending authority that sends a child or youth, as referred to in paragraph (1), to a suitable educational institution in a receiving authority, shall send the child or youth to the nearest such institution to his or her place of residence, unless the Minister or a person authorised by the Minister for that purpose has determined, with the consent of the sending authority and having regard, inter alia, to public transport arrangements, that a child or youth is to be sent to another suitable educational institution;
(4)The Minister, after consulting with the Centre for Local Government and with the approval of the Education and Culture Committee of the Knesset, shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (c), make Regulations concerning a suitable educational institution for the purposes of this Section; the making of the Regulations shall be done having regard also to the types of educational institutions, their location and the residential areas of children or youth.
(b)The Minister, after consulting with the Centre for Local Government and with the approval of the Education and Culture Committee of the Knesset, shall determine the participation amount, and may determine different participation amounts; a determination under this subsection shall be made having regard, inter alia, to the existence of participation by the sending authority in the educational expenses of a child or youth as if the child or youth were studying in a suitable educational institution within its area, and also to the types of educational institutions.
(c)The provisions of this Section shall apply to the following educational institutions:
(1)official educational institutions;
(2)recognised educational institutions for post-primary education;
(3)educational institutions of the corporation of the Centre for Independent Education;
(4)educational institutions of the corporation of the Centre of Ma'ayan HaHinuch HaTorani in the Land of Israel.
Property tax§
8.
(a)The Minister may, after consulting with the Minister of the Interior, by Order published in Reshumot (Official Gazette), grant to a committee that has been recognised, or to a person appointed by the Minister as a local education authority, the power to impose on the residents of the area that is within the jurisdiction of that local education authority, and to collect from them, a property tax to cover the expenses involved in the fulfilment of the duties imposed on the local education authority under this Law.
(b)The principles according to which the property tax shall be imposed and its rate shall be determined in the Order.
(c)A property tax as aforesaid shall have the same status, in all matters relating to its collection, as a tax within the meaning of the Tax Ordinance (Collection).
9.§
(Repealed — תשמ״ח־2)
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Contact Us →Chapter IV: Right of Parents to Choose a Recognised Stream
Right of parents to choose a recognised stream§
10.
(a)(Repealed)
(b)The Minister may, by Order, require a local education authority, or several local education authorities jointly, to open and maintain – in accordance with the wishes of the parents of the children or youth residing within the jurisdiction of that local education authority or those local education authorities – an official educational institution for compulsory education. Detailed provisions regarding the issuance of orders under this subsection shall be prescribed by Regulations.
(c)
(1)The provisions of subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply to immigrant camps;
(2)The Minister may prescribe by Regulations curricula in immigrant camps;
(3)In this subsection, "immigrant camp" means a place used for the accommodation of immigrants soon after their immigration and until their settlement in permanent or temporary housing.
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Contact Us →Chapter V: General Provisions
Budgeting of exempt institutions§
10a.
The Minister, after consulting with the Minister of Finance, may prescribe by Regulations provisions and conditions concerning the State's participation in the budget of educational institutions in respect of which an exemption direction has been given under section 5(a) (in this Section – exempt institutions), including provisions concerning the rate of participation in the budget as aforesaid and concerning the operation of the exempt institutions, all if the Minister decides that such institutions should be budgeted.
Age§
11.
For the purposes of this Law, a person is deemed to have reached a particular age at the commencement of any school year if that person will reach that age by 31 December of that school year.
Register of children and youth of compulsory education age§
12.
Every local education authority shall maintain a register of all children of compulsory education age and all youth residing within its jurisdiction.
Duty of reporting by the head of an educational institution§
12a.
(a)The head of an educational institution shall report, in accordance with rules prescribed by the Minister, to a person authorised by the Minister for that purpose from among the employees of the Minister's office, and to the head of the education department of the local authority within whose area the educational institution is situated, on the following:
(1)a pupil registered at the educational institution who is not studying on a regular basis as referred to in section 4(g);
(2)a pupil who was registered at the educational institution in the preceding school year and has not registered for the coming school year at that educational institution.
(b)In this Section –
"head of education department" – as defined in the Local Authorities (Head of Education Department) Law, 5761-2001;
"pupil" – a person entitled to free education under section 6.
Prohibition of permanent exclusion on grounds of academic achievement§
12b.
A pupil, as defined in section 12a, shall not be permanently excluded from an educational institution on account of his or her academic achievements except in accordance with rules prescribed by the Minister; nothing in the provisions of this Section shall derogate from the provisions of the Pupil Rights Law, 5761-2000.
Duty of reporting on violence§
12c.
(a)The head of an educational institution shall report, in accordance with rules prescribed by the Minister, to a person authorised by the Minister for that purpose from among the employees of the Minister's office, on every violent incident that occurred in the educational institution and that is one of the following:
(1)an incident of physical violence between a teaching employee and a pupil;
(2)an incident of physical violence between pupils in which bodily injury was caused.
(b)The head of an educational institution shall report on an incident as referred to in subsection (a) immediately after its occurrence, and also on the results of the handling of the incident, including disciplinary measures taken, upon the completion of such handling.
(c)In this Section –
"educational institution" – including an educational institution in which pupils in grades 11 and 12 study and to which the Schools Supervision Law, 5729-1969 applies;
"pupil" – a person studying in an educational institution.
Limitation of the number of pupils in foundational skills studies§
12d.
(a)In studies in a foundation class in an official educational institution in which more than 34 pupils study in the class, at least two hours out of the total weekly study hours of foundational skills shall be taught within a study framework in which the number of pupils per teacher does not exceed twenty pupils.
(a1)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), in studies in grade 1 in an official educational institution that has a nurturing score of 7–10 on the nurturing index, in which up to 34 pupils study in the class, at least one hour out of the total weekly study hours of foundational skills shall be taught within a study framework in which the number of pupils per teacher does not exceed twenty pupils; for this purpose, "nurturing index" means the nurturing index as published in the circular of the Director General of the Ministry of Education.
(b)In this Section –
"foundation class" – grade 1 or grade 2;
"foundational skills" – reading, writing and arithmetic skills;
"pupil" – a person entitled to free education under the provisions of section 6(a).
Non-bearing of tuition fees or deprivation of State participation in the budget of an educational institution on grounds of identification with terrorism§
12e.
(a)Notwithstanding the provisions of section 6(c), the Minister, or a person authorised by the Minister for that purpose, may direct that the State Treasury shall not bear, temporarily or permanently, the tuition fees of a pupil studying in another educational institution, in whole or in part, if it has been proved to the Minister's satisfaction that expressions of identification with or support for an act of terrorism or a terrorist organisation are taking place at that institution and that the management of the educational institution knew or should have known of their existence; in this Section, "terrorist organisation" and "act of terrorism" – as defined in the Law for the Struggle against Iran's Nuclear Programme, 5772-2012.
(b)Notwithstanding the provisions of section 10a, the Minister, or a person authorised by the Minister for that purpose, may direct the temporary or permanent deprivation, in whole or in part, of the State's participation in the budget of an educational institution in respect of which exemption directions have been given, if it has been proved to the Minister's satisfaction that expressions of identification with or support for an act of terrorism or a terrorist organisation are taking place at that institution and that the management of the educational institution knew or should have known of their existence.
(c)A decision as referred to in subsection (a) or (b) shall be made after consulting with the district director supervising the educational institution, all as the Minister shall prescribe.
(d)The Minister, or a person authorised by the Minister for that purpose, shall not exercise the power vested in the Minister under subsection (a) or (b) except after having notified the educational institution of the intention to discontinue the budgeting and having given it an opportunity to present its arguments.
(e)Nothing in the provisions of this Section shall derogate from the provisions of any law.
Transfer of the Minister's powers§
13.
(a)The Minister may transfer to another person the powers vested in the Minister under sections 4(f) and 5(b), in whole or in part.
(b)Notice of the transfer of powers under this Section shall be published in Reshumot (Official Gazette).
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