A new pre-army junior college opened its doors last week at the AMIT Elaine Silver Technological High School in Beersheva, and it will play a critical role in helping the Israeli Army maintain its advanced computer systems. As the first co-ed training college of its kind, it will also play a critical role in helping young women train to become computer technicians and engineers.
The new class numbers 16 students, and will expand to have two grades in the next school year.
The Israel Defense Forces and the Education Ministry earlier this year approved the creation of the program, which will train young men and women to become computer technicians and engineers. The students will come from all religious backgrounds as well, from Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) to secular.
Suitable candidates are able to defer their army service to attend the junior college, where they can obtain a full bagrut (matriculation), and then enter the army as computer engineers and technicians. Some students will also be eligible for scholarships to help offset tuition costs.
After completing grades 13 and 14, the students will enter the army equipped to manage and provide support for all computer hardware and software systems across all of the army’s corps.
Dr. Yaron Naim, who has a rich educational and pedagogic background, serves as director of the junior college. This program benefits both the students and the army, as it will gain soldiers with technological training who can immediately fill important roles in the IDF without requiring additional preparation, Naim told Makor Rishon newspaper.
Naim added that, with the relocation of one of the army’s bases—dubbed its tech campus”—to Beersheva in the future, the junior college graduates will also help fill the IDF’s shortage of engineers, some of whom go on to work in high-tech in Israel or abroad.
Tzipi Harpenes, principal of AMIT Elaine Silver, said there are currently hundreds of computer-support positions that need to be filled in the Israeli workforce. “We believe that 12th-grade students seeking a relevant profession for the future can become integrated in this field both in the army and in civilian life afterward. There is great demand for such engineers.”