A gala reception for Director-Generals of Ministries of Education and leading academics from around the world took place on May 24 at the Mandel Leadership Institute in Jerusalem. The event was held to mark the end of the Van Leer Education Conference 2012 (ITEC) on the topic "From Regulation to Trust: Education in the 21st Century".

The Mandel Leadership Institute welcomed an elite group of participants in the Van Leer Education Conference, including the Inspector-General of Education of the Netherlands, the Director General for General Education at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic, the Deputy Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan and the Deputy Minister of Education of Ontario, Canada, as well as many others.

The festive reception concluded the events of the 3-day conference, which included lectures given by leaders in the field of education from Israel and around the world, international workshops and working groups, some of which were led by senior members of the Mandel Foundation–Israel. The intimate event, which took place in the lobby of the Institute, was an opportunity for members of the Mandel community to meet leading educational figures from Israel and around the world, learn from them, and acquaint the participants with the Mandel Institute.

Mandel Foundation-Israel was one of the main partners of the Van Leer Education Conference, with other partners including the Foreign Ministry, the Israel Teachers Union, the Jerusalem Development Authority and the Jerusalem Foundation. Dr. Varda Shiffer, President of the Mandel Foundation-Israel, and Dr. Eli Gottlieb, Director of the Mandel Leadership Institute, were both members of the conference planning committee.

The Van Leer Education Conference, which was held this year for the third time, generates serious public discussion on educational issues and thus has a practical impact on educational policy in Israel. The program included joint educational workshops for director-generals of ministries of education, school principals and teachers, at which issues which are currently on the public agenda were discussed.

Throughout the conference, Mandel faculty members, fellows and graduates of the various Mandel programs, made a significant contribution to the program. On the first day of the conference a lecture was given by Mandel faculty member Prof. Moshe Halbertal on "The Realm and Ethics of Trust".

On the second day of the conference several parallel sessions were held, including one presented by fellows of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership on the topic "Regulation Dilemmas in Education." Dr. Itay Asher presented the topic "A Culture of Mistrust: The Case of the Teachers' Attendance Clock", and Bezalel Cohen and Dr. Amir Sumaka'i-Fink presented the topic "Regulation in Ultra-Orthodox Education".

In addition, a plenary lecture was presented by Prof. Michael Feuer from George Washington University, on "Accountability and a Question of Trust", followed by working groups led by Dr. Varda Shiffer, President of the Foundation, and Prof. Anat Zohar, a Mandel Leadership Institute faculty member.