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Last update - 15:12 25/07/2008 When it comes to psychometric exam, Haredi Jews do it better By Yair Ettinger Tags: Ultra-Orthodox  Thirty ultra-Orthodox men who studied for their psychometric exams in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox college passed with a score well above the national average, despite not having studied mathematics and English. "Studying maths and English in the yeshiva would have been a terrible waste of time," said Haim Glick, 29, of the Haredi town of Elad, a computer science student. "I hear from people who did matriculation exams in high school that it's a waste of time, because anyone who wants to go to university must study everything all over again," he said. Glick got 730 in the exam and 70 percent of his classmates scored higher than the 400 national median. Four of them scored higher than 700 (almost 15 percent compared to 5 percent of the overall examinees and 45 percent received marks higher than 610, compared to 27 percent of the national results). Advertisement These figures support the overall breakdown of the psychometric exam results for 2007, which were published in Haaretz a week ago. The data indicates that the formal education system plays a small part in an examinee's chances of succeeding in the test. The law enacted by the Knesset on Wednesday anchors the existing situation in which the high school yeshivas receive state funding although they don't teach the core subjects such as mathematics, English and civics. Hundreds of ultraOrthodox men who study in ultra-Orthodox courses are required to begin the secular subjects from scratch and to pass matriculation and psychometric exams within one year. The ultra-Orthodox college in Jerusalem provides students with preparatory courses for psychometric exams in the EZ Way method. "The courses for the ultra-Orthodox are completely different," says EZ Way manager Ehud Zeltner. "These are groups with no background knowledge, who two weeks before the course encountered the ABC for the first time." "They get low marks in exams before the course and three and a half months later almost half the class gets over 610," he says. Zeltner said that his instructors "fight to get the ultra-Orthodox course. It's a pleasure to teach this course because it's a class that improves drastically. It's an ego boost." The exam took place in April but Zeltner only received the list of official scores few days ago. These figures are not an accurate reflection of the situation among the general ultra-Orthodox community. Although the number of ultra-Orthodox men and women applying to universities increases every year, they are still a minority and usually receive scholarships from private and public bodies. Education Minister Yuli Tamir, who supported the new law, said Thursday that the main effort in the ultra-Orthodox community must be made after high school in vocational training courses, rather than by forcing them to study secular subjects in high school. This is in keeping with the ultra-Orthodox approach  that an ultra-Orthodox person without formal schooling can catch up if he chooses to and get marks that are even higher than a person who graduated from the state education system. Glick says that a graduate of the ultra-Orthodox education system has an advantage in studying for exams. "Most of the guys at college came with a very basic third-grade knowledge of mathematics and English. What we lacked was knowledge, but we all had a strong ambition and great studying capability. At yeshivas they accustom us to apply ourselves and aim high, and that's how we approached the psychometric exams. Don't forget we're all married with families, and we had to put in hours of homework at home, including on Friday until the Sabbath began." Zeltner attributes a large part of the success in the ultra-Orthodox course to "the ultra-Orthodox student's marked capacity for learning. It's not just the developed logic of those who studied gemara but the habit of perseverance. It's like long-distance running." Related articles: Fed up with the Chief Rabbinate, Orthodox rabbis try an end run Ultra-Orthdox prohibition on entering Temple Mount splinters Who will defend ultra-Orthodox women's labor rights? More Jewish World news and features Bookmark to del.icio.us   Former top spy speaks Ex-Mossad chief Halevy says a strike on Iran would effect Israel for 100 years. Trying Hitler Did a light sentence in a Munich trial pave the way for Hitler's rise to power?   1.   Torah study sharpens the mind 03:30  |  judith 25/07/08   2.   Wasted national resource 03:47  |  Nathaniel 25/07/08   3.   judith 1 04:33  |  potobac 25/07/08   4.   #2 05:17  |  GM 25/07/08   5.   learning english 05:21  |  GM 25/07/08   6.   Nethaniel, you miss the point 05:43  |  judith 25/07/08   7.   People like Nathaniel are a waste 05:47  |  Joe 25/07/08   8.   Habitual students and language 06:43  |  Naftush 25/07/08   9.   bad statistics 07:31  |  josh 25/07/08   10.   #2 You don`t know what you are talking about. 07:35  |  Wise Saba 25/07/08   11.   Nathaniel`s got it backwards 08:21  |  YB 25/07/08   12.   Nathaniel, its a matter of values 08:35  |  Zev Davis 25/07/08   13.   The Test is the problem 08:55  |  michael 25/07/08   14.   #2 reply to N 12:21  |  observer 25/07/08   15.   not a fair sampling 12:28  |  e/f 25/07/08   16.   kudos to haaretz 13:13  |  brenda bronner 25/07/08   17.   Haredi learning and self-selection 13:29  |  jerry 25/07/08   18.   Good news for a change! 13:37  |  Joseph 25/07/08   19.   Is this Yated? 13:40  |  Motic 25/07/08   20.   Time to move the goal posts 13:44  |  Ben Azai 25/07/08   21.   Not a fair sampling to the detriment of the Haredim 15:37  |  Joe 25/07/08   22.   psychometric exams..... 15:45  |  John Allen 25/07/08   23.   hardly surprising 16:48  |  soogy liberal 25/07/08   24.   Equivalent to Madrassas - No viable skills 17:22  |  Sad Really 25/07/08   25.   Perhaps they should cut funding to secular school 18:02  |  Aaron 25/07/08   26.   One thing no one is saying 18:40  |  Chaim 25/07/08   27.   Torah is all that matters 19:59  |  Maurice 25/07/08   28.   #27 Maurice 23:40  |  Nathaniel 25/07/08   29.   Maurice - The Koran is all that matters 00:21  |  Mullah Omar 26/07/08   30.   Yeshiva Detractors 01:05  |  AC 26/07/08   31.   Jews Must Adopt - Muslims, too! 13:58  |  No To Old Judaism 26/07/08   32.   #18 - Good news for a change????? 14:11  |  No To Cults 26/07/08   33.   lo siento 15:34  |  Di 26/07/08   34.   Nathaniel- its in the eyes of the beholder.. 21:51  |  sptz 26/07/08

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