Rowad

Rowad is a national program, a collaboration between Aluma and the Israeli Council for Higher Education.

The program strives to increase access to academic education in the Arab, Druze, Circassian and Bedouin communities in Israel, so that more young adults from those communities pursue higher education. The program is based on the belief that academic education leads to better socio-economic outcomes. Rowad adopts a holistic approach when working with youth, with their families and their community to help them make educated and optimal decisions and works with community and educational leaders in the local authorities and municipalities.

The Rowad program aspires to encourage more young adults from Arab, Druze, Circassian, and Bedouin communities to pursue academic education, and to address the many obstacles they face from high school until joining prestigious academic programs. Another objective of this program is to reduce dropout rates and prevent students from dragging out studies longer than necessary or switching tracks without completing them.

Rowad helps young adults make the educated decisions that are best for them.  They receive comprehensive information about the higher education system and the workforce, private consultation sessions, computerized evaluations, language enhancement lessons, professional evaluation tools, preparations for academic admission exams, and workshops that prepare them for academic studies, and assistance with receiving scholarships.

The Rowad centers, spread across Israel, prove that there is a genuine understanding in the Israeli government, the Council for Higher Education, in conjunction with Aluma, of how crucial it is to make academic education accessible to the Arab population. Opening these doors for these young adults, while enhancing their awareness of the importance of higher education, will ultimately yield genuine change in Arab society and make it more productive and independent.

The Rowad centers are a contact point for participants in this program for all issues related to academic studies and career development. They provide a toolkit and services that take into account the unique challenges encountered by all the diverse groups in Arab society.

The program’s faculty is driven by a sense of mission and desire to contribute to society. The team is handpicked from the community, based on the belief that providing the best service that is genuinely tailored to the needs of the population requires in-depth familiarity with that population, with the strengths of their localities, and the obstacles they face. The young adults have the potential, and the Rowad team works to tap into that potential using special tools and individual support to boost their faith in their abilities.