Kongra Star rejects restrictions on kurdish language education

In a written statement issued this Sunday, Kongra Star asserted that restricting the Kurdish language to just three or four hours a week is unacceptable. The statement added: "In Rojava, the people, women, and civil society organizations continue to confront attempts to limit Kurdish-language education within the curriculum, emphasizing that education in one's mother tongue is a fundamental right that cannot be subject to political bargaining."

Kongra Star’s statement noted that the Kurdish people lived for decades under policies of denial and assimilation pursued by the former Syrian regime. It highlighted that during the 1962 census in Hasaka province, thousands of Kurds were stripped of their Syrian citizenship, while their identity and culture were subjected to policies of repression and denial.

The statement explained that the Rojava Revolution put an end to this historical denial, and that education in the mother tongue has become an integral part of daily life in the region since 2012.

Impact on Children's Psyche and Collective Memory

Kongra Star highlighted the potential impact of restricting Kurdish-language education on children. It noted that limiting the use of a child's mother tongue—after years of learning in that language—to just a few hours a week could affect the continuity of the educational process as well as the child's sense of security and psychological stability.

The statement also emphasized the vital role women play in protecting the mother tongue and passing it down from one generation to the next, noting that the impact of restricting the Kurdish language extends beyond the educational process to the collective memory that women have preserved and transmitted across generations. Kongra Star emphasized that building a democratic and multi-ethnic Syria requires recognizing the identity and language of the Kurdish people, asserting that "genuine integration does not mean abandoning identities, but rather building a shared life based on equal identities," and that unity must be founded on equality and the free will of the peoples.

Demands for Constitutional Recognition of the Kurdish Language

Kongra Star demanded that the Kurdish language be granted constitutional and official status "without any conditions or restrictions," and that the full right to education in the mother tongue be guaranteed in areas with a Kurdish population.

It also called for enabling all children to study the entire curriculum in their mother tongue, asserting that this right "must not be linked to political negotiations."

In its concluding statement, Kongra Star called on women to continue the struggle to protect their mother tongue, achievements, and rights, affirming that they would not relinquish their mother tongue or their rights.

Sh-S

ANHA