Kurdish students in Hasakah Insist on their right to continue education in their mother tongue

Reactions from Kurdish students and their parents continue to grow following the decision issued by the Ministry of Education in the transitional government on August 27, limiting the teaching of the Kurdish language to three class periods per week. The decision has prompted calls for official recognition of the Kurdish language and guarantees of the right to continue education in the mother tongue without restrictions.

Studying Kurdish from 1st grade through Secondary school

Among those students is Fiyan Hossam al-Abbas, who began her educational journey in first grade and chose to study in her native Kurdish language. She continued her education through secondary school in Kurdish, overcoming circumstances, difficulties, and voices that sought to diminish the value of studying in Kurdish and the certificates issued through that system.

Fiyan says she encountered no significant difficulties during her education in Kurdish, stressing that Kurdish is her mother tongue and that studying in it was therefore natural for her.

In an interview with ANHA's agency, Fiyan explains that from an early age she set many goals and aspirations for herself and worked with all her effort and determination to achieve them. She says she paid no attention to the opinions of society or to attempts by some people to convince her that the Kurdish language and certificates issued through Kurdish-language education were not recognized.

She stresses that such claims did not discourage her from continuing her education. Instead, they motivated her to pursue her studies with even greater effort and determination, with one goal in mind: reaching what she aspired to and fulfilling her dreams.

Studying at home during the recent events

During the recent events that took place in Rojava at the beginning of January this year, Fiyan was forced to continue her studies from home after schools were closed. She received support and assistance from her mother, who made every effort to provide suitable conditions for her to continue her education.

Fiyan’s family consists of six members, including her parents. She has one sister and two brothers. Despite the young age of her siblings and the noise they could create at home, her mother made sure to provide a quiet and suitable environment that would help her study and concentrate, away from any factors that could affect her academic performance.

Top marks and recognition in Damascus

Fiyan Hossam al-Abbas achieved full marks in the Autonomous Administration’s secondary-school curriculum, marking a significant milestone in her educational journey. She was honored in Damascus.

Fiyan aspires to study medicine, a dream that has accompanied her since her early school years. At the end of her remarks, she thanked her father and mother and dedicated her success to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives so that they could live to see this day.

For her part, Halwa Shafik Mahmoud, Fiyan’s mother, expressed her great happiness over what her daughter had achieved, stressing that this success came after 12 years of hard work and perseverance.

Halwa Mahmoud said: “I am very happy with what my daughter Fiyan has achieved today. This was the result of 12 years of hard work and struggle. I worked very hard for her to reach where she is today.”

Halwa explained that her daughter had dreamed of studying medicine since she was young, particularly since first grade, noting that her teachers were very optimistic about her and believed that she would one day become a doctor.

Halwa continued: “Nothing in life comes without effort and hard work. We faced many difficulties in our lives, but we were all united in our determination to educate our daughter and all our children.”

Halwa stressed that her daughter’s achievement of full marks came after years of hard work and perseverance and was not solely the result of her own efforts, but also of the great efforts and sacrifices made by the family throughout her years of education.

She considered her daughter’s success evidence of the importance of education in Kurdish and the value of the certificates issued through it.

Halwa recounts that when the secondary-school results were announced that evening, she decided not to tell her daughter immediately so that she would not feel stressed or anxious, particularly because Fiyan does not have a mobile phone.

She said: “I told Fiyan about the results the following morning. The result was expected by the family, as we were confident that Fiyan would achieve full marks.”

At the end of her remarks, Halwa called on the relevant authorities to provide support and assistance to her daughter so that she could fulfill her dream of studying medicine, as doing so requires substantial expenses that the family cannot afford.

Rejection of the reduction in Kurdish-Language instruction

In a related development, Jiyan Khalil, a student at a teacher-training institute, said that female students at the institute reject the transitional government’s decision regarding the teaching of Kurdish, arguing that it will create numerous obstacles and problems for students.

She explained: “At first, we studied in Kurdish, and three classes per week are by no means sufficient for Kurdish students. There should also be theoretical classes in Kurdish, especially since all of our curricula were previously taught in Kurdish.”

For his part, Kurdish-language teacher Aziz Ashraf said that the Ministry of Education’s decision regarding the teaching of Kurdish does not meet students’ needs and that allocating only three Kurdish-language classes to Kurdish students is insufficient, particularly given that students in Rojava had studied in their mother tongue, Kurdish, across different educational stages and departments for more than ten years.

Aziz Ashraf concluded: “This decision paralyzes the educational process in our areas and has a very negative impact on students and teachers alike. It therefore needs to be reconsidered and reversed, while taking into account the circumstances of the region, the components of Kurdish society, and the areas where they live.

ANHA