Israeli parents last week expressed outrage over their children’s 11th grade “Hebrew Language” matriculation exam, the topic of which was “conspiracy theorists.”
The exam, which bears the emblem of the Center for Educational Technology (CET), includes a reading comprehension selection that begins with the statement: “Conspiracy theories have been around since the dawn of history. There were those who claimed that NASA falsified the moon landing, and there were some who disseminated false theories about hidden aliens who landed in Area 51 in the United States.”
The Center’s website calls CET a “non-profit organization” that is “deeply committed to promoting diversity.” CET’s partners include Microsoft, National Geographic, and the Trump Foundation.
The reading selection continues: “Surfing social media reveals a plethora of extreme and discredited conspiracy theories: Bill Gates invented the virus, 5G networks spread viruses, and that doctors, journalists, and politicians are lying to the public regarding the pandemic’s scope. The COVID crisis, together with the stormy election campaign of the United States’ 45th President Donald Trump, turned the years 2020-1 into a fertile field for conspiracy theories.”
The 11th grade matriculation exam reading selection continues: “The London Guardian newspaper reported on October 27th [the exam omits the year, 2020 -ed.] that a public opinion survey in which 26,000 people from 25 countries participated revealed that many believe that the COVID pandemic is nothing but a hoax or conspiracy, and that data regarding prevalence and mortality of the disease are exaggerated.”
The Israeli “Center for Educational Technology” exam continued: “59% of survey participants in Nigeria hold this opinion, 46% in Greece, 38% in the U.S., 36% in Hungary, 30% in Italy, 28% in Germany, and 24% in Great Britain. The numbers of those holding this mistaken opinion are twice as many in Nigeria as in Italy. It also emerged that the three countries at the bottom of the list performed explanatory and educational activities whose goal was to combat these conspiracy theories.”
The “annual poll” upon which the report was based only commenced in 2019, coinciding with the pandemic’s rollout.
Ezra Gilbert, whose child was one of the students exposed to such explanatory and educational activities, told Jewish Home News: “It’s all about indoctrination.”
He continued: “It talks about the fake moon landing, Bill Gates, and the plandemic as examples, and then ends with a statement about how some countries are using the education system to counter these theories – which is precisely what this test in Israel is doing! Sneaky! Telling them there is indoctrination but that it’s in those other countries.”
Jewish Home News turned to the Center for Educational Technology for their response to clarify concerns by parents whose children took this exam: “The reading selection quotes an article by the London Guardian but fails to mention that the article was written in the year 2020. The selection mentions certain opinions as ‘false’ or ‘discredited,’ providing no supporting evidence for these claims. Finally, parents expressed concern over the racial insinuations contained in the juxtaposition of Nigeria and Italy. Parents have called your exam ‘indoctrination’ and have expressed outrage over it. We are also interested to learn who authored the exam.”
The Center for Educational Technology did not immediately respond to Jewish Home News‘ query.
