Students rejects Education Ministry’s decision regarding Kurdish language

The 2026/2027 academic year began this morning in schools across Hasaka Governorate, marking a new phase following a merger process. The start of the year was accompanied by several challenges, most notably student objections to decisions regarding Kurdish language instruction.

In this context, students in Qamishlo schools protested and issued statements rejecting the Syrian Ministry of Education's decision to allocate only three weekly periods to the Kurdish language, demanding instead that the curriculum be taught in Kurdish.

The students' statements asserted that the Ministry of Education's decision neither protects the rights of Kurdish students nor meets their aspirations. They emphasized, "The Kurdish language is our voice, our culture, and our very existence; we do not accept a mere three periods for the Kurdish language."

Asserting their rights as students, they declared: "We demand our rights as students and the rights of the Kurdish people. We oppose no one and no language; rather, we are the guardians of our language and rights. A mother tongue cannot be an optional subject; students must learn in their mother tongue."

The students underscored the necessity of protecting the mother tongue—a cause for which thousands of martyrs had sacrificed their lives. Consequently, they announced their refusal to enter classrooms until their demands for the right to study the curriculum in Kurdish were met.

They concluded their statements by chanting slogans such as "Our language is Kurdish, and our rights are constitutional" and "There is no life without language."

Meanwhile, in the town of Çil Agha, Kurdish students from the town and the surrounding Aliyan area refused to attend school in protest against the Ministry of Education's decision to limit Kurdish language instruction to three periods per week. According to students and their families who spoke to ANHA agency, the students are scheduled to issue a statement tomorrow—in front of schools in the city and its surrounding towns—protesting this decision and demanding their right to study curricula in the Kurdish language.

Sh-S

ANHA

Qamişlo

Çilaxa