Immediately after the exam break and receiving grades in January, the teaching team and students of Sindiana, the Arab Youth Village for Young Leadership, gathered for a week that deals with the students’ self-evaluation and feedback, during which the educators gave the students all the tools to critique themselves.
“We have a vision that looks at each student as someone who will be a future leader,” says Sindiana Principal Andera Biadse. “I want graduates who know themselves, who are proud of themselves and who want their society to grow and be the best it can be.”
Sindiana (“Oak tree” in Arabic), Israel’s first Arab youth village, was founded in collaboration between the Society for Advancement of Education (SAE) and a group of social entrepreneurs and education professionals from the Arab community, together with Givat Haviva Educational Institution and the Menashe Regional Council.
Serving Arab students from throughout the country, Sindiana is based on three central elements: academic and social excellence leading to high-level matriculation, leadership, and culture and identity – acquisition of knowledge regarding Israeli society as a whole and specifically Arab culture.
Sindiana, now in its fifth year of operation, includes a high school with over 400 students (grades 9-12) and a residence with 40 students from Northern Israel and the Negev.
A primary goal of Sindiana is to assist students in choosing future careers and prepare them for success in higher education at Israeli universities and colleges. Their high school and university studies will provide them the basis to become leaders in Arab society in Israel and contribute to their communities and to the larger Israeli society.
One unique aspect of the school is time for student self-reflection and self-evaluation. This is followed by a meeting with the participation of the family, where the end of the semester certificates will be distributed and parents will hear personal feedback directly from their children on their academic and social performance during the first semester of the school.
Learn more about Sindiana. Support Sindiana, the first Arab Youth Village for Leadership in Israel.