The centrality of the education system, its role in society and economics, and its large part in social budgets and national product, are undisputed – education stands out among those fields on whose progress and importance the public consensus depends. Nevertheless, and perhaps because of this, the achievements of the education system are sometimes – and recently in particular – subject to waves of criticism, the focus of which is often the teachers, their standard and the quality of their teaching.

Without minimizing the importance of critical processes and of the demand and striving for improvement, education is the work of numerous teachers and educators; they are the ones actually "in the field", and their work and its daily demands are the structure, the process, whose results are under constant scrutiny.

The Entrepreneur Teacher Award was established to identify and spotlight teachers and schools all over the country and in all parts of the education system, whose educational actions are oriented towards entrepreneurship that merits special attention.

The idea for the award was developed by the undersigned and initiated by us two years ago. This year we were joined by Stanley Chais, an American businessman known for his involvement in the educational sphere, and the Sacta-Rashi Foundation, the most prominent education and welfare foundation in Israel. Being great believers in entrepreneurship, we see great importance in emphasizing and transferring it to the education system, and believe in the power of teachers (and groups of teachers) to initiate, motivate and foster these qualities in their work environment. Therefore we have set ourselves a common goal to assist in locating such motivating forces within the system. We have initiated, with the blessing of the Ministry of Education and its director-general, Ronit Tirosh, a venture with the teacher at its center that targets all teachers and educators in all educational sectors in Israel from elementary school level to institutions for higher education.

The program is designed to seek out those teachers whose work reflects ability and achievement over and above dedication and competent performance of the standard curriculum. It identifies teachers who have succeeded in developing unique initiatives which apply effective responses to the problems and challenges arising from the complex and ever-changing reality of today's schools, and promote the scholastic and educational achievements of their students: achievements which will allow them to contribute during their military service, succeed in their university education, integrate into the economy and contribute meaningfully to society.

The criteria for assessing entrepreneurship and selecting the winning teachers relate to special content and teaching principles, to how the teacher acts within the school system, from the idea to its implementation, to identifying proven results, and to the potential for spreading that entrepreneurship.

Every year, up to 18 such enterprises are selected, and each teacher is awarded a prize of NIS 10,000.

For formulating and applying the work methods, a steering committee and public council were appointed, whose members are from all sectors of education system and the business community in Israel.

The Process

This year, the second year of awarding the prize, 24 teachers were selected who lead 17 different enterprises in various sectors of the education system, in schools all over the country and in a wide range of study areas. They were selected from 250 enterprises that were submitted, in six stages assessed by 30 adjudicators with extensive experience in teaching, management and development, experts in various fields of knowledge who represent various sectors and regions of the country. In the first three stages of the process, independent assessments were obtained from at least two adjudicators, followed by discussion of points of view and emphases relating to the environment in which the teacher works.

Twenty-nine enterprises advanced to the fourth stage, in which the candidates were interviewed, the results and effects of the enterprises were ascertained by means of documents, telephone conversations, expert opinions and site visits to the schools. The fifth stage included discussion in a forum of the adjudicating panel, and in the final stage the assessors were joined by representatives from the public council.

After the Award

Investigations are currently under way for enabling the dissemination of information about the program, the prizewinners and their methods in order to find ways of assimilating their work into the system at the local, regional and national level, and for encouraging contacts between teachers and appropriate entities at home and abroad in order to assist and support their continued contribution to the education system and to society.

We would like to express our thanks to the many educators– people from all parts of the education system – who joined in the idea of promoting and encouraging entrepreneurship in the education system. They contributed of their time, effort and vast experience, advised, operated and judged tirelessly. We also wish to thank Ofer Nimrodi, Avi Betelheim and the "Maariv" newspaper which waves the banner of supporting education and has given its sponsorship to the Entrepreneur Teacher Award.

It is our hope that the Chase-Rashi-Recanati Prize will arouse and promote, among teachers and the public, the worthy exposure of educational entrepreneurship with which we are blessed.

Leon Recanati            Yaakov Kop

Chairmen