By Robert E. Sutton
This past October saw the dedication of the Wohl Autotech Training Laboratories at the AMIT State Technological High School in Jerusalem. The program, entitled “Autotech Tools for Success,” will also be open to boys and girls from the adjacent AMIT Nordlicht Religious Technical High School. This state of the art facility and program places the AMIT State Technological High School in Jerusalem in the forefront of advanced automotive diagnostic and technological studies. Offering a three-year curriculum in theoretical studies as well as practical, hands-on learning, the Wohl Autotech Training Laboratory and its curriculum are the first of its kind in Jerusalem and only the fourth in the country. The program has been designated as a pedagogical model for high schools across the country to observe and emulate.
The technological hardware and software that is now standard in cars, trucks, construction machinery, and military vehicles is being updated more rapidly than ever. Today in Israel there is a great need for automotive diagnosticians and mechanics who have extensive knowledge and hands-on experience in this high-tech domain. This is what Wohl Autotech delivers.
Another advantage of the Autotech program is that students have an (almost) open door to the Israel Defense Forces Ordnance Corps. The program is carefully vetted by IDF liaisons, and Autotech graduates continue on to the IDF where they receive advanced education and critical hands-on experience.
The primary goal of the program is to teach this much-needed skill to underprivileged Israeli high school students with the ultimate goal of achieving gainful and profitable employment and becoming productive members of Israeli society. An additional benefit of the program is that students improve their daytoday English as well as the technical terminology needed for the trade. This in turn makes them even more marketable in the workforce.
