Back to School in the Shadow of the War

The 2023/24 academic year opened with mixed feelings, with students both new and old – but unfortunately, with students lost to the war and greatly missed at the classrooms, as well.

On the day the academic year opened, the management of the College and the Students’ Association have not forgotten the fallen and the abducted, and placed posters and a memorial corner. Aside from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum’s stall situated at the main lawn, the Students’ Association put up a special marketplace for businesses from the Gaza Envelope and the North, for the benefit of students, as a move of support and solidarity with the residents of these regions whose livelihoods have been compromised. Additionally, an empty seat was placed in every classroom to raise awareness for the 136 abducted individuals still in the Gaza strip.

Alongside the great difficulty, the students arrived with a modicum of optimism and excitement. The College also opened its gates to new immigrants from CIS member states. About 30 young new immigrants from Ukraine and Russia have signed up for the Masters’ Degree program in Software Engineering and began their studies at the College – and will study Hebrew at an Ulpan concurrently with their studies at the College.

Another program that SCE is currently toiling over is the establishment and submission of Bachelors’ Degree Programs in Medical Imaging, to provide a solution for the ever-increasing shortage of imaging professionals in Israel as a whole, and in the south of Israel in particular.

Additionally, another new project that the College is currently establishing is academic classrooms for exceptional high school students, where they will study in preparation for Bachelor’s Degree studies at the College concurrently with their high school studies. This is a collaborative project with the Department of Education at the Municipality of Be’er Sheva and the Municipality of Ofakim.

Prof. Jehuda Haddad, Rector and Founder of SCE: “We are thrilled to open the academic year, and to meet our students in the campuses after such a long period of time. This academic year opens during wartime routine, with consideration towards students in active reserve service and in the armed forces, who risk their lives every day to protect our homeland. We at SCE salute our heroic students on the front lines, and wish for their swift return; we embrace the bereaved families and remember the fallen. United and strong together!”