The government will spend NIS 1.1 billion ($377 million) on expanded summer education programs for students from kindergarten through ninth grade to help them recover from wartime learning disruptions, the government said Wednesday.

The school year typically concludes at the end of June, after which subsidized summer programs for kindergarten to grade 6 kick in, usually ending on July 21. Instead, this year’s programs will be extended for 10 more days until the end of July, according to a joint statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Education Minister Yoav Kisch.

Kisch said the optional program is intended to help students make up for learning gaps caused by, among other things, five weeks of closures during the war with Iran that covered the Passover break, while also providing “emotional support and innovative artificial intelligence programs.”

“This is a significant national statement on our commitment to Israeli children,” the education minister said.

Participation is voluntary for students, as well as for kindergarten teachers and school teachers. Local authorities are to bring in outside workers to provide any stopgaps. According to Channel 12, throughout the war, there were no negotiations with the teachers’ unions about making up for the lost days. Teachers who work will be paid overtime.

First announced in April, the initiative was then estimated to cost approximately NIS 750........

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