Teachers in Hasakah demand recognition of Kurdish as official language in constitution

Teachers in Hasakah rejected limiting Kurdish-language education to only two hours in schools, considering Decree No. 13 insufficient, and called for Kurdish to be officially recognized in Syria alongside Arabic.

In this context, Kurdish language teacher Layla Darwish stated that “one of the main reasons behind the Rojava Revolution was securing recognition for the Kurdish language in Syria, and thousands of martyrs sacrificed their blood for this cause.”

Layla emphasized the necessity of education in the mother tongue and making Kurdish an official language in Syria, in addition to including it in educational curricula and subjects.

She added that some practices by the interim government bring back memories of Baathist policies that prohibited teaching in Kurdish.

She affirmed that they will continue struggling to guarantee cultural rights and secure constitutional recognition for Kurdish in Syrian schools, stressing that they will not give up their right to education in their mother tongue. She also considered Decree No. 13 inadequate.

For her part, teacher Khalida Ahmad said that students have been studying in their mother tongue for more than a decade, and that it would be very difficult to return to an education system based on another language, especially after entire generations graduated in Kurdish.

She added that banning mother-tongue education in Rojava would negatively affect the future of thousands of students and stressed their rejection of any changes to the current education system or teaching in a language other than Kurdish.

Khalida Ahmad stressed that the Kurdish language represents identity, history, and struggle, and therefore must be recognized as an official language in Syria’s constitution.

Meanwhile, teacher Mohammed Hajo pointed out that the Rojava Revolution is also known as the “Revolution of the Kurdish Language,” noting that thousands of students graduated from universities and institutes after studying in their mother tongue.

Hajo expressed distrust toward the interim government regarding the implementation of Decree No. 13, especially after the banning of Kurdish on some official signs.

He stressed the necessity of continuing education in the mother tongue within the current curricula, because thousands of students have already received their education in Kurdish, and Kurdish rights should be constitutionally guaranteed rather than dependent on decrees that can be amended or canceled.

He described the decision to teach Kurdish for only two hours as unacceptable, saying: “Every letter of the Kurdish language was written with the blood of the martyrs and heroes of Rojava.”

He concluded by reaffirming the demand for Kurdish to be established as an official national language in Syria and included in the Syrian constitution alongside Arabic, rejecting any treatment of Kurdish as a foreign language within school curricula.

ANHA