Kurdish language education is ‘red line for us’: Rojava academic

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A senior official from a university in northeast Syria (Rojava) told Rudaw on Monday that educational institutions in the Kurdish-led enclave will continue providing education in Kurdish, urging the need to safeguard the educational system in place. The remarks come as integration talks between Damascus and Rojava continue, with education as a central issue in the discussions.

“When it comes to our mother tongue, this issue is related to our national cause,” said Shervan Mahmood, co-chair of the University of Kobani, stressing that “the Kurdish language is a red line for us” and that “we will never take a step back regarding this language.”

Founded in 2017, the University of Kobani was the first higher education institution in the Kurdish majority city, situated in north-central Rojava. It comprises 20 departments across four faculties and five institutes, offering various undergraduate and postgraduate programs in fields including Kurdish literature as well as arts, humanities, medicine and natural sciences.

“Some courses are taught in English as well as Arabic, but the primary language and the adopted language policy at the university is Kurdish,” Mahmood noted.

The University of Kobani launched a PhD program in the Kurdish language last year, according to the university’s co-chair, who added that the first master’s degree awarded was also in Kurdish language.

“For a language that has reached the level where Master's and PhD programs are opened, I don't believe anyone has the right to put this language under discussion anymore,” he added.

Since 2011, authorities in Rojava have implemented a distinct curriculum featuring instruction in the Kurdish language, separate from the Syrian state system.

However, Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - which operates as the de facto army in Rojava - reached a landmark agreement on January 29, with significant mediation from the United States through its Special Envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, as well as Kurdish political figures from the Kurdistan Region.

The 14-point agreement establishes a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire and calls for the integration of Rojava’s civil and military institutions under Syrian state control. The two sides have since been holding talks to implement the deal, with education emerging as a central issue in the negotiations.

The Syrian government has so far agreed to recognize the legal status of all diplomas and certificates issued by schools and institutes run by the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), which governs Rojava, since the administration’s inception, as these are being brought into the national accreditation framework.

Regarding Kurdish curriculum and language rights, Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued Presidential Decree 13 in January, elevating Kurdish to a “national language,” while maintaining Arabic as the sole official language of Syria.

While this is seen as a breakthrough, Kurdish officials consider it temporary and potentially reversible, prompting calls for language rights to be enshrined in the constitution.