Gap Year News Articles

Fall In Israel Gap Years Predicted

04 Feb 2011

The British government's decision to increase university tuition is causing a dramatic drop in Israel gap year programmes. Adam Jenshil, the director of Young Judaea's Year Course said: "Next year we will definitely see a decline in teens from the U.K. because many are holding off on delaying university." The decision has "certainly proven very difficult for a lot of people to be able to come to Israel because of the situation," said Jonny Lipczer, director of the British desk at World Bnei Akiva. "We have opened up scholarships, but for some even those scholarships won't be enough and we're looking into other, shorter program so that people would come not for the whole year but a lesser period of time and still have the great experience they ought to have on a program in Israel." Students beginning their courses before 2012 will not be affected by the tuition hike in their later years of study. Thus, gap year program directors do not believe the anticipated decrease in participants is permanent. "For future years it isn't going to be the same situation, because whether people take a gap year or not, they're still paying the same amount," said Bnei Akiva's Lipczer.

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