10 percent of Arab college grads are drivers and waiters

This is three times the rate among Jews

By Joseph Algazy, Ha'aretz Correspondent

A bachelors degree is usually the gateway to a bright future and a lucrative career. But not, apparently, if you're an Arab, according to Professor Majid al-Haj, a member of the Council for Higher Education. Here is some of the data from a recent position paper prepared by al-Haj:

Around 30 percent of Arab university graduates are employed in teaching, as opposed to only 15 percent of Jewish graduates.

Another 10 percent of Arab university graduates end up as drivers, waiters, mechanics, and non-professional construction workers, more than three times the rate of their Jewish counterparts, of whom only three percent end up in blue collar jobs.

15 percent of Jewish university graduates land administrative posts in public services, as opposed to only one-half a percent of Arab graduates.

Another seven percent work in positions connected with the life, natural and social sciences, in comparison with 16 percent of Jewish grads. The latter fields, in particular, prove that this is not a new trend: Of 5,000 teaching university positions only 40 are held by Arabs, who are also practically non-existent in university administration jobs.

Al-Haj's paper was discussed at the end of last month by the council, which ordered the planning and allocation committee to translate the paper into proposals for action.

The council will reconvene next week under the auspices of the new Education Minister, Yossi Sarid, in order to authorize the committee's proposals and circulate them among the administrative departments of all of the country's institutions of higher learning.

Al-Haj claimed that the dearth of employment among Arab academics is a serious disincentive for younger graduates to continue in higher education.

The available employment opportunities are extremely few in number, are limited to certain fields, and are mainly confined to within their own communities.

Positions which are in some way connected with the Israel Defense F orces or security matters are automatically off limits to non-Jews.