ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Syria’s education ministry on Thursday announced a new plan for Kurdish-language education in Kurdish-majority areas, making Kurdish a mandatory subject to be taught three times a week while ending full Kurdish-language instruction in the region.
“The study of the Kurdish language, as a national language, shall be permitted in public and private schools in areas where Kurdish citizens constitute a significant proportion of the population,” the ministry said in its decree, adding that Kurdish should be “taught at all educational levels and shall be considered part of the approved curricula.”
The ministry said the decree is based on a presidential decree, issued in January, which recognizes Kurdish as a “national language.”
The decree by the ministry states that three Kurdish-language classes should be taught each week alongside Arabic and English, and that “its grade shall be included in the student’s final overall score in accordance with the approved procedures.” An additional class each week will be dedicated to activities related to the Kurdish subject.
Most subjects have been taught in Kurdish in Kurdish-administered northeast Syria (Rojava) for the past 15 years under the Kurdish autonomous administration, formed following the withdrawal of the ousted Bashar al-Assad’s forces from the Kurdish region.
The decree by the central education ministry gives students the option to study social studies, history, geography and philosophy in either Kurdish or Arabic during the coming academic year as part of a “transitional period,” adding that the arrangement will not apply in subsequent years.
This could effectively mean that after the transitional period, these subjects, along with all others except Kurdish, will be taught in Arabic.
Kurdish officials have repeatedly called for the recognition of Kurdish as an official language and for the language to be taught as the main language of instruction in Rojava.
Mazloum Abdi, commander-in-chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), recently announced the dissolution of his force and the completion of the integration of Rojava’s military, security and administrative institutions into state structures.
He told Rudaw during an interview earlier this month that they prioritised Kurdish education in recent talks with Damascus.
