In the “good old days” when business was booming and the economy was in great shape and savers earned over 10% interest on their money, supporting was not such an issue. But it certainly is now.
It is even worse in Eretz Yisrael in the charedi community. Too many young husbands and fathers do not have the means to produce kemach. And income from working wives and tzeddakah organizations and government handout often are not enough to sustain burgeoning families.
The system is broken and needs fixing. And JCT is in the forefront of attempting to do just that.
Several years ago, JCT created a Haredi Integration Program that reaches out to charedi men and women and encourages them to obtain a college education in various fields that will lead to viable careers. It also provides them with preparatory programs to help them catch up academically if their earlier education did not prepare them for entry into college.
And they are succeeding quite well.
In the academic year 2011/12, there were almost 1600 charedi male and female students in various courses of study at the JCT. Forty five percent of the students graduated with degrees in Computer Science; 11% in accounting and information systems; 18% in industrial engineering and management; 11% in technology management and marketing; 6% received an MBA and 1% got degrees in electro-optics engineering.
In the first year after their graduation, 77% were employed in their professional field; 11% had jobs in other professions and 12% were not yet working.
Jerusalem College of Technology currently comprises several institutes; Machon Lev is the oldest of JCT’s academic institution for men, and its goal is to produce graduates who will contribute to Israel’s science and technology sectors while incorporating high ethical Jewish standards. A beit midrash was built alongside the academic buildings so that students are able to combine their Torah and academic studies.
Machon Lev serves the entire spectrum of the religious community in Israel and globally. Students range from graduates of Hesder yeshivas and yeshivot gevohot, to graduates of military high schools, public and yeshiva high schools as well as tourists and new immigrants as well.
Naveh Institute, located on the Machon Lev campus, is an evening college program geared to charedi males; Machon Tal for women combines academic studies with midrasha studies, and then there is Da’at, The Center for Technology Studies for Charedi Women, all in Jerusalem – and the Lustig Institute for charedi women in Ramat Gan. All religious sensitivities are addressed at JCT, with men and women studying in separate campuses. There is also a new separate program in Bnai Brak for men and women, called Mivchar, which opened last year.
The Jerusalem College of Technology offers a myriad of educational opportunities for both native Israelis and olim and for those in between – including an international school for foreign students seeking to get a college degree in Israel.
For more information visit www.jct.ac.il.