Council for Higher Education in Israel
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The Council for higher Education in Israel (Hamoatza lehascala aliona) was established in 1958, as the superior body, which inspects the functioning of Universities and Colleges within the boundaries of the State of Israel. The head of the council is always the Education Minister of Israel, and at least two-thirds of its members are a known academic personals. The total budget of the council, which is sponsored by the State, is 6 billion Shekels per year. Among its duties, the council is responsible on the establishment of new universities and the expansion of existing universities. Moreover, the council suppose to transfer the annual budget of the State to the public universities, and promote a continues scientific and philosophical research. The council is forbidden to restrict the freedoms of Opinion and Conscience in the educational material, and also not allowed to intervene in appointing the academic staff, or the way the staff teaching the material.
The most important body of the council is the VT"T - The committee for budget and planning. The committee dealing in the division of the Council's budget to the Universities and Colleges.
[edit] History
The council was established in 1958, because during that period, most of the academic institution were dependent in the Governmental Budget, and there was a fear among academic personals that the government will politically influence the institution, and will become a stronghold of the ruling parties. In 1956 the government appointed a special committee, which was suppose to advise the government how to act, in order to assure that no ruling political party will be able to influences the academic institutions. The Governors of the Bank of Israel at that time, David Horowitz, was the head of the committee, which advised the government to appoint a special a-political and academic council which will supervise the functioning of the academic institutions and their relations with the government. Soon after, in 1958, the Knesset legislate a law, similar to the conclusions of Horowitz's committee, and the council started the work.
In December 2005 a new legislation came into force, when the Knesset decided that there should be two student representativeness in the council, instead of one. One will represent the universities students while the other the colleges students.
