The Negev's Next Generation

Equipping the Negev's Next Generation with Digital Broadcasting Skills.

Radio and broadcasting? Tel Aviv, Neve Ilan, and Herzliya are the places that come to mind. Israel’s communications industry is based largely in the center of the country, with Negev communities relegated to the periphery, where the promise of economic mobility is woefully out of reach.

At Sapir, our mission is to change that. For six years running, we’ve been taking our academic knowhow to the southern town of Ofakim, opening new educational horizons for young people. Together with municipal authorities, the Amal Amirim School and an educational nonprofit called Startup for the Future, Sapir offers high school students advanced courses in fields such as digital broadcasting, news casting, scriptwriting and operations. Participants earn college credit while still in high school.

Dr. Ella Ben Atar, Head of the Radio and Digital Program at Sapir’s Communications Department, says her goal is to help young people “develop the critical faculties and creative drive necessary to build a career in radio and communications.”

Dr. Moti Gigi, Department Chair, expects to see many program graduates return to Sapir College after the army to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees.  “Academia must leverage social change,” he explains. “We want young people in the Negev to aim high and pursue careers in the nerve center of Israeli society.”