Nearly 3 Million Israeli Students Start School Year With AI and Financial Education in Focus

Israel’s schools and kindergartens are opening the 2026-2027 year with about 2.6 million students, including roughly 180,000 first-graders. The Education Ministry is pairing traditional themes of identity and heritage with programs designed for a changing economy and the wider use of artificial intelligence.

The ministry has set three priorities for the year: belonging and security, identity and roots, and knowledge and tools for coping with a changing world. It will introduce financial education as a subject for the first time, initially for ninth-grade students, before expanding it to 10th grade next year.

Artificial intelligence will also play a larger role in learning and examinations. The ministry said the school year’s broader program, titled “Roots of AMI: Future, Heritage and Entrepreneurship,” will run from kindergarten through 12th grade and connect heritage with initiative, leadership, personal responsibility and social involvement.

The first week will concentrate on social and emotional ties. Teachers will hold discussions, identify students’ needs and work to strengthen resilience among individuals and groups. The ministry said schools would give particular attention to violence, social rejection and ostracism, including behavior in online spaces.

Education Minister Yoav Kisch said the ministry wanted students to develop a stronger sense of belonging and resilience while gaining tools to succeed in a rapidly changing world. The “Heritage Paths” field of study will expand to Druze elementary schools and to seventh-grade classes in the state and state-religious education systems.

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We are opening the year with great responsibility and with a clear direction: to strengthen the sense of belonging and resilience of Israel’s students, deepen identity, values, and heritage, while at the same time giving them the knowledge and tools that will enable them to lead and succeed in a rapidly changing world.