Schools are to go on strike for a full day on Sunday in no less than 70 towns and cities in Israel, as part of a protest by parents against overcrowding in the classroom.

The Education Ministry stated on Saturday night that schools will open as normal and teachers will arrive to teach, even though parents have promised not to send their children.

The 70 towns and cities in which parents have confirmed they’ll be keeping their kids at home include Tel Aviv, Ashdod, Be’er Sheva, Givatayim, Givat Shmuel, Hod Hasharon, Holon, Kfar Tavor, Modi’in, Lod, Nahariya, Netanya, Nazareth, Savyon, Nes Tziona, Emek Hefer, Afula, Arad, Kiryat Ono, Rehovot, Ramat Gan and Kalansawe.

In Rishon Letzion 14 of the local schools will be on strike, and likewise several schools in the northern coastal city of Haifa will strike too.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) told Channel 2 that “the parents are right.”

Despite conceding that the parents were justified in holding the strike he said he had ordered schools to run as normal on Sunday.

“This strike isn’t practical. The public is adult and understands that a problem that exists for 30 years won’t be solved in a night,” he said. “The education system is a very large ship, you can’t shake it every few minutes.”