Kobani residents and students demand all subjects taught in Kurdish

On August 27, Syria’s transitional government issued a decision concerning the teaching of the Kurdish language.

Under the decision, public and private schools in areas where Kurdish citizens constitute a significant proportion of the population may teach Kurdish as a national language at all educational levels, include it in the official curriculum and count its grade toward students’ overall final marks.

The decision limits Kurdish-language instruction to three classes per week, alongside Arabic and English, as well as one weekly class for activities.

It also allows, during the first academic year following the decision’s entry into force, students to study social studies, history, geography and philosophy in either Arabic or Kurdish, in accordance with the approved curricula.

The decision sparked anger among residents of Kobani and Hasakah province, where educational curricula for all stages had been taught in Kurdish for more than a decade.

Following the government’s decision, protests spread across Kobani and Hasakah province. In this context, residents of Kobani expressed their rejection of the decision.

Citizen Awsh Ahmed said angrily: “As a mother, I reject this decision. For 14 years, our children have been studying in Kurdish at all stages of education.”

She continued: “As mothers, after all these years, we go to schools to learn Kurdish because it is our language, our mother tongue. We want our children to continue their education in Kurdish.”

She questioned how children, particularly students who have completed their secondary education, could be expected to start from scratch and learn another language, asking: “What will happen to them?”

Religious figure Ali Youssef rejected the reduction in Kurdish-language instruction hours, saying: “We, as imams and sheikhs in Kobani, reject and condemn the decision issued by the transitional government to reduce Kurdish-language instruction to three hours a week.”

Aven Muslim, a student at Kobani University, called for “all our subjects to be taught in Kurdish. We do not reject the Arabic language, but Kurdish-language education must be the foundation of the education curriculum. I reject this decision and call for it to be amended.”

a.k

ANHA