For the past 15 years, since 1998, ESRA has been actively involved in giving supplementary education to immigrant and disadvantaged youth in Netanya in our Right Track Centers. Our philosophy, bases and help have advanced and enriched thousands of youth, and are still guiding us today.

After the summer break last year the Netanya Right Track Centers recommenced their regular activities. The ESRA role in these afternoon centers for teenagers at risk, a joint project of the municipality and ESRA, is the payment of professional teachers to help the students with their school studies. The teaching commenced after Succoth in October 2012. We have 8 teachers at 3 centers this year, teaching small groups for a total of 44 hours a week. The subjects taught are Hebrew (grammar, composition and comprehension), Bible, Mathematics and English. In two of the centers nearly all the children are of Ethiopian extraction; in a third center about half are Ethiopian while  the other half are from various states of the former Soviet Union; in the fourth center over half are of Ethiopian extraction with the remainder being third generation North African Israelis. Three of the centers are in new buildings or in recently renovated premises. The fourth center is unfortunately in a depressing underground bomb shelter and, although there have been many promises made in the last couple of years to move the center, nothing has eventuated to this date.

The centers are open five days a week between 5 pm and 8 pm. A total of 110 students have been availing themselves of the opportunity to get help with their homework, to catch up with the material taught in class and to prepare for examinations and improve their grades. The students come from families which have a limited income and cannot afford to pay for private lessons.  Additional students usually join this core group as the school year progresses and they feel the pressure to prepare for tests and examinations, and from March till June several dozen more students are expected to join the groups in all subjects.

ESRA employs knowledgeable and keen teachers, each with a lot of classroom experience. These teachers have been successfully working with the Right Track Centers' program for many years and have helped several hundred children cope with their studies. We receive reports on attendance, on the subject matter taught and on the students ' grades which are supplied by the coordinators three times a year.