Peer teaching has been going on in various forms of education for thousands of years. Having been neglected as an educational technique since the mid nineteenth century, it was re-discovered in the 1960's as a way of meeting acute needs and is now recognized as a very important way of enriching education and achieving behavioral, social and educational goals that cannot be achieved by other means.

The subject of T&M is developing and progressing worldwide and many are interested in establishing a tutoring and mentoring project in their countries. PERACH, which is probably the largest T&M project in the world, is a source of information and guidance to many, and "PERACH-like" projects are flourishing in many countries in the world.

Therefore, it seems only natural following the previous two conferences, which were held in London, that the next international conference will be organized by PERACH in the year 2000, in Israel.

	Motivation for social involvement through tutoring and mentoring
	Tutoring and mentoring models
	Supporting systems: guiding and training
	Evaluation and research
	Tutoring and mentoring minorities
	Relationships between tutoring schemes and the media

The conference will be open to all those active in involving students in community service or those interested in developing programs in this field. The Conference will attract people from a variety of backgrounds, disciplines and countries, committed to addressing challenging community issues.

Conference Delegates will include:

	University staff members in education, psychology,social work, and other related fields
	Deans of students and others involved in student aid programs and bettering student conditions
	Government representatives from education ministries and councils for higher education
	Community leaders, school principals, students
	Those wishing to initiate a program or who are already involved in tutoring and mentoring projects, which aim to involve students in community service

PERACH

The Conference will be hosted by the Israeli Perach Tutoring and Mentoring Project.

Perach, "flower" in Hebrew (and also the acronym of Tutorial Project), was established about 25 years ago at the Weizman Institute of Science in Rehovot, where it's national office has been located since.

Perach is a publicly supervised national tutorial project. Its goal is to provide tutorial help for Jewish and Arab Children from disadvantaged families, while simultaneously helping university students cover the cost of higher education. It does so by providing scholarships to university students in return for their work with underprivileged children.

Perach has grown steadily over the years and today it includes more than twenty five thousand student-mentors who work with over 50,000 children on a wide range of activities aimed at advancing them both socially and academically.

Perach's people with their unique spirit – most friendly, warm, enthusiastic and hospitable – will do their best to make this conference a special and memorable event.

ISRAEL

Israel's history spans 5,000 years; its present is contained in a tiny world of barely 13,000 square kilometers. Yet even though the roots of Israel are deeply embedded in a heritage going back many millennia, the country itself is very much geared to the vigors of modern-day living. This is a state that was reborn in 1948, and since then, the pioneering spirit of its people has created a nation which is in the forefront of wide-ranging fields of science, technology, education and culture.

Thanks to the devotion of its people, the face of Israel – much of which was a dusty and barren desert, has blossomed into a land of milk and honey, with an abundance of rich, productive farmlands, successful industries and exciting cities – and an infrastructure which forms the basis for what surely must be one of the world's most exciting destinations.

NAZARETH

Nazareth is a perfect site for the subject of tutoring and mentoring, being the cradle of Christianity where some of the most divine philosophical ideas of love and friendship were conceived. The recent visit of the Pope focused the eyes of the world on the place where the students of Jesus became tutors and mentors.

Modern Nazareth today wears another crown – that of being the leading town of co-existence and peace among the three religions – Christianity, Judaism and Islam. It is here that these values are practiced in everyday life. Its geographic location makes it a perfect base from which to tour the rest of the Galilee offering a uniquely different experience to the visitor. Picturesque red roofs and white stone churches ramble haphazardly down the slopes of this ancient Galilee hillside, the summit of which overlooks the panorama of the entire Jezreel Valley.