Perach Mentoring Project

The PERACH program was established in 1974 by a handful of students from the Weizmann Institute of Science, who tutored children in need.

PERACH, an acronym in Hebrew for "tutoring project", also means a "flower".

This national tutorial program pairs up children from a disadvantaged background with university students who act as their mentors. The students receive a partial scholarship and/or academic credits in return to their work with children, while PERACH children receive the care that helps them realize their potential and blossom into motivated individuals.

Today, approximately 15% of all students in Israel’s institutes of higher education and tens of thousands of children in need are taking part in the project each year.

Perach children come from a disadvantaged socio-economic background, often suffering from educational, emotional and behavioral difficulties. Approximately 20% of PERACH children are new immigrants, with equal numbers coming from the Arab sector.

Perach also runs many tutorial group activities, nine hands-on science centers and fifty science-enrichment centers in peripheral areas and under-resourced neighborhoods all over Israel.

Being the largest organization of its kind in the world, Perach has become a source of inspiration and practical support to similar organizations, now operating in about twenty countries worldwide. 

In 2008, the 60^th anniversary of the State of Israel, PERACH was awarded the Israel Prize, for its ongoing contribution to the state and society.