Activities in Jazira cities demand Kurdish-language education

In the cities of the Jazira region, protests continue against Decision No. 493 of 2026 issued by the Ministry of Education in Syria’s transitional government on August 27, limiting Kurdish-language instruction to three classes per week. Protesters are calling for the decision to be revoked and for education to be conducted in Kurdish.

Qamishlo: Student Demonstration Demands Kurdish-Language Education

Hundreds of students in Qamishlo held a demonstration that began at Qarmouti Roundabout and proceeded along Amuda Street, raising demands for constitutional recognition of the Kurdish language and guaranteeing their right to education in their mother tongue.

The students carried their Kurdish-language textbooks and banners reading: “Our language is our identity,” “We want our right to learn in our Kurdish mother tongue,” “Let Kurdish be an official language of instruction,” “Our language, our culture and our existence,” and “We started in Kurdish and will continue in Kurdish.”

The demonstration stopped in front of the Qamishlo District Directorate in the city center, where District Director Jihan Hassam met with the protesters. They reaffirmed their demand to receive their curriculum in Kurdish and rejected limiting Kurdish instruction to three classes as if it were a foreign language. Jihan Hussam said she would convey their demands to the relevant authorities.

Derik: Sit-In Tent Demands Constitutional Recognition

In Derik, the city’s People’s Initiative set up a sit-in tent in front of Yusuf al-Azma School to protest the restriction of Kurdish-language instruction to three classes per week. The sit-in is expected to continue for several days.

Dozens of students and their families took part on the first day. A large banner was raised over the tent reading: “Our language is Kurdish and our right is constitutional.”

From the sit-in tent, student Asmaa Issam read a statement on behalf of the initiative, saying that the Syrian transitional government restricts the Kurdish language by recognizing only three hours of instruction per week, which she said does not comply with international human rights.

The statement said the Kurdish people had struggled for years for their language and that education, work and activities in Kurdish had developed with the Rojava Revolution. It noted that these gains had been achieved at a high cost and that the people would not give them up.

The statement called for Kurdish to be officially recognized in the constitution and for education in Kurdish to be accepted. It also urged residents of Derik to join the sit-in and continue the activities until they secure their fundamental right to the Kurdish language.

Amuda: Calls for Curriculum to Be Taught in Kurdish

In Amuda, residents held a protest at the Free Woman Roundabout, demanding that the curriculum be taught in Kurdish.

Kurdish language researcher Arshak Baravi said in a statement to the public that the Education Ministry’s recent decision to limit Kurdish instruction to several classes fails to take into account the specificity of the Kurdish people and their culture, as well as the circumstances and obstacles they faced during the years of the revolution to secure their legitimate rights.

Baravi affirmed that the struggle would continue and that activities would be sustained until demands related to teaching the curriculum in Kurdish and protecting Kurdish culture are achieved.

Çil Agha: Students and Parents Demand Cancellation of Decision

In Çil Agha, students and parents closed schools and headed to the Education Complex, where they read a statement addressed to the Education Ministry of the transitional government, expressing their rejection of allocating only three classes per week to the Kurdish language.

The protesters raised banners reading: “The Kurdish language is a legal and political right” and “Learning in our language is one of our linguistic rights,” alongside slogans calling for education in Kurdish. They also chanted, “We want our language.”

Hanifa Rashid, one of the parents, read the statement, which said that students had been studying in their mother tongue for 14 years, from first grade through university, and that as members of the Kurdish people, they have the right to learn and speak their language.

The statement stressed that learning in one’s mother tongue is a universal right and that allocating only three classes to Kurdish constitutes a deprivation of linguistic rights. It emphasized their rejection of the decision and their refusal to give up this right.

It explained that the Kurds’ demands are limited to the right to learn, speak and receive training in their language, without any hostility toward other languages. It also described Kurdish as a rich historical language and a core element of the Kurdish people’s identity.

The statement called on students and their parents to urge the Çil Agha Education Complex administration to convey their demands to the Education Ministry and cancel the decision, replacing it with a policy that guarantees the teaching of the curriculum in Kurdish at all educational levels.

The statement concluded with slogans including, “Long live the Kurdish language, for it is our identity, existence, dignity and history,” and “There is no life without language.”

Tel Tamr: Martyrs’ Families and Students Demand Kurdish-Language Education

The Council of Martyrs’ Families and students from schools in Tel Tamr announced their rejection of the Education Ministry’s decision to limit Kurdish-language instruction to three classes per week, calling for Kurdish to be adopted as a primary and official language in the curriculum and educational process alongside Arabic.

The statements were read in both Arabic and Kurdish. The first was delivered at the Council of Martyrs’ Families’ garden in the presence of martyrs’ families, members of civil society institutions and residents of the city, while the second was read at Maysaloun School with the participation of school students.

The two statements emphasized that the Kurdish language represents an essential part of identity and cultural rights, stressing the right of Kurdish children to learn in their mother tongue from primary school through university. They called for the decision to be reconsidered in a way that guarantees equality, linguistic diversity and the rights of different communities.

Participants also stressed that they would continue expressing their demands through peaceful means, considering the protection of linguistic and cultural rights essential to strengthening stability and diversity. The two statements concluded with the slogan: “There is no life without language.”

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