Why so Little Focus on Speaking?

I have some students who can read, write, and understand English at a relatively high level for a non-native speaker, and what kills me is their near inability to speak. Every parent who hires me to teach their children desires that their children speak English at a high level, which makes a lot of sense considering the practical, real life applications of spoken English.  In  my opinion the education system in Israel doesn't do enough to give students the ability to communicate well in English.  

For example, the English  Bagrut, or test for receiving a high school diploma in Israel consists of reading comprehension questions and a short essay.  I just wonder, in today's workforce, if there is a single job where you have to read a passage, not in your native language, and then answer question about that passage in a certain amount of time.  I can't think of one, which makes me wonder why these exercises are the basis for measuring English language competency in Israel.  I understand that a student has to be able to read, write and comprehend, but if they can't articulate themselves and communicate what does reading and writing matter? 

My big point and concern is that the most desired and important aspect of the English language, speaking, is receiving the least amount of focus in the Israeli education system.  As a private teacher with the aspirations of one day opening my own learning center, I must strive to develop a program that will help people improve their speaking above all other language skills.  It is the most important part of language acquisition, and must be my focus moving forward.  I know that I can work with a student and get them to the point where they are scoring between 95-100 on their exams, but they're still not speaking, which means that I have far greater challenges ahead.  Bring them on; I'm ready for greatness.