Hasakah, Kobani students demand expanded Kurdish-language education

Hasakah and Kobani witnessed student protests on Wednesday against the decision to limit Kurdish language instruction to three classes per week. The students called for their right to education in their mother tongue to be guaranteed and for the scope of Kurdish-language education to be expanded, reaffirming their linguistic and educational rights.

In Hasakah, dozens of students and Kurdish language teachers held a sit-in in front of the Education Directorate in protest against the Transitional Government’s decision to limit Kurdish language instruction to three classes per week. They called for their right to education in their mother tongue to be guaranteed and for the scope of Kurdish-language education to be expanded.

During the sit-in, students held up banners affirming their commitment to their language, including: “Our language is our identity,” “We want to learn in our language,” and “We have the right to learn in our language,” along with slogans calling for the linguistic and educational rights of Kurdish students to be guaranteed.

Student Befrin Hussein Ahmed, from Abdel Rahman al-Kawakibi School, said she had been studying in Kurdish for more than 10 years, stressing that three classes per week are by no means sufficient to meet students’ need to learn in their mother tongue.

Students and Kurdish language teachers submitted a list of 14 demands to the Education Directorate, including:

1. Ministerial Decision No. 67/943 should serve as a step toward guaranteeing education in Kurdish, rather than merely regulating Kurdish as a school subject.

2. Guarantee the right of Kurdish students and pupils to learn their mother tongue throughout Syria, without tying this right to place of residence or a specific population percentage.

3. Remove any ambiguity surrounding the criterion of “areas where there is a significant proportion of Kurdish citizens” and establish clear and transparent standards to ensure that students are not discriminated against based on their place of residence.

4. Adopt three classes per week, while stressing that this should not be considered a maximum limit on Kurdish language education.

5. Develop a clear timetable for a gradual transition from teaching Kurdish to teaching in Kurdish across an increasing number of subjects, ultimately moving toward a bilingual education model at appropriate educational stages.

6. Ensure that students and pupils currently enrolled in schools benefit from the new education policy, rather than limiting this right to future generations.

7. Develop transitional and remedial programs for students who were previously denied the opportunity to learn Kurdish, tailored to their ages, educational stages and language proficiency levels.

8. Make use of existing educational expertise and experience in Kurdish-language education, particularly the thousands of teachers and education workers from various fields, and allow them to participate in the formal education process on clear professional and academic grounds, without exclusion or marginalization.

9. Prepare and develop curricula, textbooks, educational resources and digital materials in Kurdish, and develop the necessary scientific and academic terminology.

10. Integrate Kurdish culture, literature, history and heritage into the national curricula in a scientific and balanced manner that reflects the cultural and historical diversity of Syrian society.

11. Ensure the continued teaching and mastery of Arabic alongside Kurdish, and adopt bilingual education as a means of promoting equal opportunities rather than prioritizing one language over another.

12. Create Kurdish-language pathways in higher education to train teachers, researchers and specialists in the Kurdish language, and support scientific research and the production of knowledge and academic resources.

13. Ensure that Kurdish does not become a marginal examination subject, but instead has an effective presence across different aspects of school and educational life.

14. Provide legal guarantees and stable legislation for the linguistic and educational rights of Kurdish citizens, so that these rights are not dependent on an administrative decision that could be amended or revoked.

In a related context, dozens of students began gathering in the courtyards of several schools in Kobani in the morning, holding up slogans calling for the decision to be reversed.

Participants said that reducing Kurdish language classes limits their right to learn in their mother tongue, and stressed that they would continue their protests and would not return to their classrooms until their demands are met.

The sit-in received support from residents and teachers, while the Education Directorate said it would convey the students’ demands to the relevant authorities. However, no official statement has been issued on the demands so far.

ANHA

Kobani

Hasakah