The National Cyber Education Center and Microsoft – Encouraging Girls to Study Computer and Cyber-Related Subjects

Sagi Bar, the director of the National Cyber Education Center, reports that the joint meetings resulted in new collaborations between the Center and companies that are members of 5×2's business coalition.

One new partnership of this kind is with Microsoft: the first of three planned conferences was held at the beginning of January 2015 for 9^th grade female students who attend the middle schools whose graduates go to "Gevahim" high school.

"The purpose of the conference was to encourage girls to take computer and cyber-related subjects in high school.  It included a visit at the Microsoft campus, lectures, and a panel discussion comprised of women engineers, a female computer systems officer in the army, and a 11^th grade female student.  The conference was conceived in cooperation with the National Cyber Education Center (which was responsible for organizing the meeting and providing professional facilitation by an expert in gender).

The students and teachers enjoyed themselves and were glad to tour Microsoft's campus. The impact of the conference will be examined in the coming months when the students choose which study tracks to pursue."

Kadima Mada – New Scholarships for Teachers and Students to Encourage 5 Study Units

Iris Wolf, Kadima Mada's Pedagogical Director, cites three new programs that were introduced as a result of the association's membership in 5×2's steering committee:

• A program to Increase the potential pool of teachers who are certified to teach 5 study units in Math: ten $1,000 scholarships are granted to students in the Department of Education in Science and Technology at the Technion.
• A program to enhance the professional knowledge of teachers who teach 5 study units: scholarships are granted to 30 existing teachers through a process that entails retraining and greater professionalization (a joint initiative with the Ministry of Education).
• A program that offers extra and focused assistance to students who take 4 study units in Math so they can advance to 5 study units; a pilot model of after-school assistance provided by college students was launched at the Shifman High School in Tirat Hacarmel.

Furthermore, an existing program sharpened its focus based on 5×2's targets:  Engineering studies at the Technion – special scholarships are granted for a period of 8 years to students starting in the 9^th grade and until they complete their degree in Engineering.

According to Wolf: "The new programs were formulated in the course of discussions held with 5×2's integrator, Mohana Fares, and aim to have a  connection with focused targets that the Ministry of Education believes there is a need for."