Israel mulls adding cultural heritage to national curriculum

The Israeli Ministry of Education is considering making conservation and renovation of heritage sites part of the national curriculum, based on the learning module prepared by the ELAICH (Educational Linkage Approach In Cultural Heritage).

In an article published in The Jerusalem Post, Dr. Michael Grunzveig, the Education Ministry’s inspector of the study of Israel and archeology, said the ministry was exploring the possibility of introducing such a course.

“We have already had one meeting with educators about this idea, and we are planning to promote this option and integrate it into the learning program over the next few years. Hopefully, it will eventually become a separate unit where students can create projects and assignments on the subject,” Grunzveig said.

The article in the Post featured the recent one-week course in Amman organized by ELAICH, with the participation of some 20 high school students from Jordan and Malta.

The report describes the EU-funded ELAICH as a "far-reaching, multifaceted project, that pulled together some of the region’s most renowned conservationists, archeologists, historical architects and other experts to share their detailed knowledge with young people from Israel, Turkey and Greece, as well as Malta and Jordan.”

Dr. Anna Lobovikov-Katz, ELAICH coordinator from the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, told the Post that while the knowledge and tools used to preserve cultural heritage had greatly improved in recent years, public awareness of the importance of historical sites was still very low.

“We do not expect students to become professionals in the fields of preservation, conservation, archeology or architecture, but we hope this course will give them basic theoretical knowledge so they can understand and appreciate what exactly cultural heritage is,” Dr. Lobovikov-Katz said.

Students from Jordan and Malta in ELAICh course in Amman

Roberta De Angelis, a trained conservationist based at the University of Malta, who worked with Maltese students earlier this year to study a local parish church in Valletta as part of the ELAICH course there told the Post that “History is very fragile. As conservationists, we are very frustrated. People do not understand that we need to preserve these sites for future generations, and they think that because they cannot always see the erosion, there is nothing to worry about.”