JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

EDUCATION, JEWISH
of the students continuing through high school and 6–14% attending
supplementary school programs.
Winnipeg’s Jewish elementary day schools also service
close to 30% of children ages 6–13. However, the situation
in Winnipeg is somewhat different. In addition to those students
enrolled in Jewish schools, a significant number were
enrolled in Hebrew bilingual programs at two public schools,
where they study Hebrew language, culture, holidays, etc.
In total, then, some 48% of students ages 6–13 were enrolled
in Jewish programs. Another difference: in Winnipeg, 20%
of students ages 14–17 were enrolled in Jewish high schools.
A very small percent attended supplementary school programs.
Montreal and Toronto, with the largest Jewish populations,
attracted a larger percentage of the students than the
smaller communities. Montreal had the highest percentage of
enrollment, with 55% attending elementary schools and 46%
attending high schools. Supplementary schools in Montreal
attracted some 5% of students ages 6–17. Toronto had 36% of
6–13-year-olds in elementary day school and 21% of 14–17year-olds
in high schools. Toronto had the highest percent
of students in supplementary school settings – 17% of 6–17year-olds.
(School population data provided by Federations
and schools.)
Bibliography: B.G. Sack, History of the Jews in Canada
(1965); United Jewish Welfare Fund of Toronto, Study on Jewish Education
(1975); J. Kutnick, “Jewish Education in Canada,” in: H.S. Himmelfarb
and S. DellaPergola (eds.), Jewish Education Worldwide Cross-
Cultural Perspectives (1989); H.M. Waller, “Canada,” in: American
Jewish Year Book, 103 (2003); Statistics Canada, 2001 Census, special
order tabulations for UIA Federations Canada (2003).
[Joyce Levine and Seymour Epstein (2nd ed.)]
south africa
The outstanding feature of South Africa Jewish education
is the predominance of all-day schools over supplementary
classes. This is a development that followed World War II.
Whereas in 1948 there were only seven pupils in a pioneering
day school, in 1968 there were 17 schools with an enrollment
in elementary and high school departments of a total of 5,632
pupils. The early post-World War II supplementary schools
consisted of several types: one hour daily, five days a week in
the morning prior to classes, on public school premises, for
secondary school pupils; one hour each day, or two hours
twice a week in the afternoon, meeting mostly in Orthodox
congregational buildings. These classes had a total enrollment
in 1968 of 4,275 pupils. In Johannesburg and its environs the
afternoon Hebrew schools, or talmud torahs, were organized
in a regional body called the United Hebrew Schools. Apart
from these Orthodox part-time classes, the Reform congregations
under the aegis of the South African Union of Progressive
Judaism also maintained such Hebrew schools with a
total enrollment of about 1,300 pupils. Finally, 3,406 children
studied in 1968 in 53 Jewish nursery schools established and
maintained by various women’s groups. In 1967 Johannesburg
had an Orthodox Yeshiva College and a Folkshule where instruction
was given in Yiddish.
All these schools, except the Reform, were administered
by two separate bodies, the South African Board of Jewish Education
based in Johannesburg, and the Cape Board of Jewish
Education in Cape Town. This division of labor was due to the
distance between the two cities. The South African Board provided
various services to scattered small settlements of Jews in
rural areas, such as visiting teachers, correspondence courses,
syllabi, and supervisory visits.
The South African Jewish community provided especially
lavish support for its ever expanding system of day schools.
All these schools were accommodated in magnificent, modern
structures, usually surrounded by spacious sports fields.
Expenditures were covered by tuition fees, fundraising campaigns,
grants by Jewish communal organizations, and by private
bequests, trust funds, and endowments. To accommodate
pupils from outlying country districts, hostels, or dormitories,
were provided. In 1968 more than 100 pupils were housed in
such hostels of the King David schools in Johannesburg. The
hostel of the Herzlia school in Cape Town was also quickly
filled with over 50 out-of-town boarders. Sustained living in a
richly Jewish atmosphere, especially on the Sabbath, provided
a lasting influence on the character of students in these hostels.
A further salutary effect upon the development of student
Jewish consciousness was afforded by an ulpan scheme
whereby groups of secondary school pupils from day schools
spent annually over three months in Israel, learning Hebrew
and touring the country.
Crowning the Jewish educational system was the Rabbi
Judah Leib Zlotnik Seminary in Johannesburg for the training
of Hebrew teachers. From the year of its foundation in 1944
to 1968 it produced more than 100 graduates. These teachers
served not only the day schools but also the widespread country
communities. Every graduate was sent for a year’s further
study in Jerusalem. The seminary did not meet the demand for
teachers. A number of students, mainly women, took courses
in Hebrew at the universities of Witwatersrand and Cape
Town. Bursaries (stipends) were provided for by the community
for those who studied for teaching. The severe shortage
of Hebrew teachers was partly filled by arrivals from Israel.
In addition to the formal schooling the community provided
informal cultural activities, as well as sports and recreational
facilities for both youth and adults.
[Isaac Levitats]
In 2003, over 80% of school-going Jewish children in Johannesburg,
Cape Town, and Port Elizabeth (whose Theodor
Herzl school by then had a mainly non-Jewish enrollment)
were attending one of the Jewish day schools. The total pupil
enrollment in the day schools was about 8,000, substantially
more than the 1970 figure of nearly 6,000 even though
the overall Jewish community declined by more than a third.
Those still in government schools had their Jewish educational
requirements catered to by the United Hebrew Schools (un-
210 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6