The Academic Reserve (Ages 18-27)
This program opens the door for excellent students from the periphery and from minority populations, enabling them to integrate into quality positions and advanced technological systems in the IDF.
Who is the target population?
This program targets young people from the periphery who excel, have completed high school, want to serve in the IDF Academic Reserve and meet the entrance requirements. The program has taken upon itself the advancement of young people from development towns, peripheral localities and special populations, including: Ethiopian and Kafkazi immigrants, Na’ale pupils, and young people from the Druze, Cherkessk and Bedouin communities. The program enables participants to study for bachelors’ degrees and provides them with scholarships, financial assistance and social-academic support as well as support during their army service.
Partners:
The program has been operating in the IDF since 1999, in coordination and cooperation with the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education the Ministry of Absorption, the Association for the Advancement of Education, local authorities, and the principals of the schools where the program operates. Additional partners who have contributed to its success include: institutions for higher education, among them – the Technion, Ben Gurion University, Tel Aviv University, Haifa University, Bar Ilan University, the Hebrew University, ORT Braude College, Jerusalem College of Technology, and the academic colleges.
Conditions of Acceptance:
· A full matriculation certificate
· 4 point matriculation in English and math and a minimum of 5 points in an additional subject (preference for scientific subjects)
· Meet the acceptance requirements of leading academic institutions, including passing the psychometric exam with a minimum grade of 550
· Meet the quality criteria for the Academic Reserve, as per the testing carried out by the IDF Induction Office
· Pass the personality tests as required by the Academic Reserve track
· IDF Acceptance Committee
Pupils accepted receive:
· A grant of 8,500 NIS
· Educational and social support during the period of their studies
· A laptop computer
· A stipend for living expenses of 15,000 NIS (according to personal eligibility)
Program participants are required to be involved in community service, from the second year of the studies through completion of their degree.
Did you know?
· Before the program was established only small numbers of students from the periphery were accepted to the academic reserve. Today, thanks to the program, more that 40% of the students in the academic reserve are from the periphery and are accepted on the basis of their personal records and achievements.
· In 2000, 95 students began the first cycle of the program, in October 2006, more than 370 students began the 7th cycle of the program.
· In the 2006/7 academic year approximately 1700 students were enrolled in the Atidim program.
· Approximately 650 students have completed their studies and joined IDF technological systems and professional departments.
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