Teachers criticize limits on Kurdish-Language education

The transitional government’s recent decision on the curriculum and the mechanism for teaching the Kurdish language has triggered widespread popular and educational reactions across the areas of Rojava.

Local circles said limiting Kurdish-language instruction to a small number of classes, while preventing students from studying scientific subjects in their mother tongue, represents a setback to the gains achieved over the past 14 years.

Against this backdrop, ANHA agency spoke to a number of female teachers who criticized the Education Minister’s decision issued on August 27, which restricts the teaching of Kurdish in public and private schools to a limited number of hours or to certain grades and not others.

The teachers said limiting Kurdish-language instruction to a fixed number of classes would affect not only the linguistic aspect of education but could also create new obstacles to the educational process and the future of Kurdish students, particularly their right to receive education in their mother tongue at different educational levels and in various fields of study.

Teacher Hindrin Seno stressed the need to convey the voice of the Kurdish component and reconsider the recent decisions concerning the Kurdish language, saying that the sacrifices made by the Kurdish people do not deserve a decision that diminishes their identity, language and existence.

Hindrin continued: “We see ourselves today at the heart of the process of integration and building the Syria of the future, and we look forward to being true partners in rebuilding and advancing the country. It is our natural right to have an active role and full, protected rights within our homeland.”

She also said that abruptly imposing Arabic on students who have received their entire education in their mother tongue for 14 years would cause serious educational harm and deprive the new generation of its basic right to learn in the language of its identity. She stressed that the right to study, self-identify and develop in one’s mother tongue is a fundamental right guaranteed by international conventions to all peoples of the world.

Seno stressed the need to amend the decision and approach it in the spirit of genuine partnership with a people that struggled and fought against terrorism and persecution to protect Syria. She said that while society welcomes integration to ensure the country’s security, the constitutional rights of the Kurdish people must also be preserved and their language given a dignified status that allows all sciences to be taught in it.

She renewed her call on the public, the transitional government and Kurdish leaders in decision-making positions to intervene immediately to convey this message and resolve all outstanding issues.

For her part, teacher Jinda Ahmê said that after a 14-year revolution, the educational experience under the Autonomous Administration’s policy was distinguished by granting every component the right to study in its mother tongue. The Arab component studied in Arabic, while the Kurdish and Syriac components studied in their respective mother tongues, reflecting genuine equality among all components.

Jinda added that following the recent integration process between the Syrian Democratic Forces and the transitional government, the government appeared to be moving toward building a new, diverse Syria that guarantees coexistence. However, its latest decision regarding schools and the Kurdish language came as a disappointment, limiting Kurdish-language education to just three hours per week, in addition to one hour for activities, which she said does not meet the aspirations or reflect the sacrifices of the Kurdish people.

Jinda continued, saying: “If this decision had been issued at the beginning of the revolution, it would have been a good starting point. But today, after 14 years of struggle and building an entire generation, limiting education to three hours is completely inadequate. It amounts to suppressing the culture of an entire people and erasing its identity, while subjecting students to a process of forced cultural assimilation.”

She also said the decision leaves students facing genuine difficulties and impossible choices to protect their future. Students in the scientific stream, including mathematics, physics, chemistry and science, are required to study exclusively in Arabic, while Kurdish-language education is limited to the literary stream. According to her, this measure prevents Kurdish students from pursuing higher scientific fields such as medicine, pharmacy and engineering in their own language, pushing them toward literary fields or forcing them to abandon their mother tongue to secure their educational future.

 Jinda said the decision entrenches discrimination among students and opens the door to new crises. She stressed her outright rejection of imposing a different language on children who have studied in their mother tongue for years, warning of the psychological harm this could cause.

Teacher Jinda Ahmê called on the transitional government and the Ministry of Education to carefully and responsibly reconsider the decision and issue a decree that reflects the Kurdish people’s rights and sacrifices. She announced a boycott of schools and said parents would not send their children to school until the decision is amended in a way that guarantees their legitimate rights.

Meanwhile, teacher Shirin Mousa described the decision on teaching the Kurdish language in its current form as “unfair and incomplete,” saying it fails to meet the legitimate aspirations for which everyone has struggled.

She said the clear and fundamental demand of teachers and students alike is the full right to education in their mother tongue, without any division or restrictions limiting it to a certain number of hours or specific academic streams.

Concluding her remarks, Shirin Mousa stressed that the gains achieved through the blood of martyrs and years of efforts in education and identity-building cannot be relinquished. She emphasized that genuine stability begins with full recognition of cultural and educational rights in a comprehensive and undiminished manner.

a.k

ANHA