Programs
University Within Reach
University Within Reach opens the doors to higher education for high school students, many from low socio-economic communities, and provides important exposure to civics studies on a practical everyday level. The curriculum to date has been focused on legal studies. This approach gives participants a better understanding of the responsibilities and rights of citizenship in a democratic society.The program has been especially successful with Arab students with over 90% of graduates pursuing a higher education (the national average is 51%). The ethnically diverse student body is composed of 50% Arabs, 10% Druze, and 40% Jews, most of who interact with each other for the first time in their lives through this program. Approximately 500 students in 2006-2007 participated in the program. Presently, classes take place at the premier universities in the country: Tel Aviv, Haifa and Bar-Ilan, with plans to expand to additional universities in the future.
Sensitivity Training
The Yitzhak Rabin Center runs over 120 full-day Sensitivity Training Workshops for Security Personnel annually. Initially funded by the Yitzhak Rabin Center, financial support is now absorbed by the respective security administrations themselves. Rabin Center facilitators work at the Center as well as off-site at military/security locations. The program fosters tolerance, human rights, equality, pluralism, free speech, equal opportunity, and respect for the rule of law. Inaugurated in 2005, results can be measured by a 50% reduction in complaints against security personnel. Approximately 6,000 security personnel are trained each year.The Rabin Democratic Challenge
The Rabin Democratic Challenge is implemented in high school classrooms providing students with a supplement to their regular civics studies. Developed to counter the increase of incidents of verbal and physical violence in Israeli high schools, it pushes students towards social and cultural reconciliation. The program is composed of a series of 27 experiential workshops. In 2007 it reached students in 283 classes in 34 schools, 62% of them located in Israel's periphery communities. Once students complete the course, they are required to do community service, promoting social responsibility and directly connecting them to Israeli society.A recent addition to the Rabin Democratic Challenge is a pilot program called, "When We Disagree." This program is currently being implemented in three schools at the kindergarten and elementary levels.