Separate and unequal education systems were a central part of apartheid in South Africa.[71] The Israeli Pupils' Rights Law of 2000 prohibits educators from establishing different rights, obligations and disciplinary standards for students of different religions. Educational institutions may not discriminate against religious minorities in admissions or expulsion decisions, or when developing curricula or assigning students to classes.[107] Israel has Hebrew-language and Arabic-language schools, while some schools are bilingual. Most Arabs study in Arabic, while a small number of Arab parents choose to enroll their children in Hebrew schools. All of Israel's eight universities use Hebrew. The disparities in Israel's education system are not nearly so great as they were in South Africa, but the gap is wide. In 1992 a government report concluded that nearly twice as much money was allocated to each Jewish child as to each Arab pupil.[71]
According to DIRASAT, The Arab Center for Law and Policy based in Nazareth, there is shortfall of more than 1,000 classrooms for Arab students. Furthermore, roughly 45% of Arab students applying to higher education are rejected because of their overall lower performance on matriculation and psychometric entrance exams.[108]
A 2005 study by Daphna Golan-Agnon, co-founder of B'Tselem, on school budget allocations required all school principals in Israel to divulge their school budgets (excluding teachers' salaries). The findings revealed that for each Jewish student, schools had an average of 4,935 NIS per year, while for each Palestinian Arab student, schools had only 862 NIS per year.[109]
A 2004 Human Rights Watch report identified "huge disparities in education spending" and stated that "discrimination against Arab children colours every aspect" of the education system. Exam pass-rate for Arab pupils were about one-third lower than that for their Jewish compatriots.[71]
A 2007 report of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination noted with "deep concern", that separate sectors are maintained for Jewish and Arab eduction. It recommended that Israel should assess the extent to which maintenance of separate Arab and Jewish "sectors" may amount to racial segregation, and that mixed Arab-Jewish communities and schools, and intercultural education should be promoted.[110] In
