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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Kurds introduce own curriculum at schools of Rojava |
| 2015-10-04 |
| [ARA] The PYD-led Auto-Administration in the northern Syrian city of Qamishli has recently developed a new curriculum for primary schools, which depends in the first three grades on the Kurdish books instead of Arabic. This comes after decades of ban on the Kurdish language and culture by the ruling Baath Party. Samira Haj Ali, Deputy Educational Commissioner of the Auto-Administration in Qamishli, said: "This is a significant moment in the history of the Kurdish people, especially in Rojava (Syria's Kurdish region). Today, for the first time, a Kurdish curriculum is being officially taught at schools." "Some chauvinistic parties claim that the Kurdish language is unimportant language in comparison with Arabic, but we want to tell them Kurdish is a very rich language. It is the language of more than forty million people," she told ARA News. "Media shows some fake versions of school books claiming those are included in the new curriculum in Rojava, but that's not true; we have introduced a purely educational Kurdish curriculum," Ali said. However, the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits... due to the dominance of the PKK-affiliated Democratic Union Party (PYD) over the public institutions in the Kurdish region in Syria, families fear that the new curriculum may influence their children by teaching them the thought and ideology of a dominant political party. Speaking to ARA News in Qamishli, Kurdish writer Najmaddin Kayad said: "The ideologization of educational curriculum usually has devastative consequences for students, and we have seen this experience in Iraq, Libya and Syria. People of those countries now pay the cost of ideologized education that has prioritized political views over science." "That's why there must be a reconsideration concerning the new curriculum in Rojava under the supervision of a specialized organization, which may include educational professionals and jurists, in order to serve our society and ensure a better future for our children." Others believe that such a curriculum has no future since it's not recognized by the government. This process comes as the Syrian government has taken the decision to close several primary schools in Qamishli city and other areas of Hasakah province in northeastern Syria amid the growing power of the Auto-Administration. |
| Posted by:Fred |