Amid the Mountain and the Valley Stands the Gymnasium: The Establishment of a High School Diploma (Teudat Bagrut) During the Pre-Independence Period in Israel, 1923-1935

The matriculation exams and diplomas of high school graduates are of public interest and employ decision-makers since the early 20th century. The establishment began in 1928 until official recognition by the Hebrew University in 1934. The process of establishing a high school diploma expresses the interplay between the Hebrew Academy and the Jewish community`s education system under British rule and demonstrates the difficulty of conceptual training in a country brimming with internal conflicts and struggles between its power centers. The investigation focuses on three mainstream high schools, which were the first to provide secondary Hebrew education in Israel; The Herzliya Gymnasium Tel Aviv-Jaffa (1905), the Hebrew Gymnasium in Jerusalem (1909), and the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa (1913). This research relies on archives items collected to provide an in-depth picture of pre-independence high schools and their arguments for the recognition of their diplomas. Analysis of these documents reveals the relationship between the schools` management and the Hebrew University`s as on the spectrum of authority in standards and reciprocity and agreement. Prof. Abraham Halevi Frankel, chairman of the High School Supervisory Committee, was found to be most influential in institutionalizing the high school diploma. The Supervisory Committee differentiated vocational education, deemed incompatible to the university, from a theoretical education indicating a broader general education thus enabling students acceptance to higher education in Israel and abroad. It seems these uniform standards doubled the ratio of high school graduates within a decade.









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