Sit-in in Derik, protest in Amuda against restrictions on Kurdish education

Residents and students across the Jazira region continue to protest a decision by the Ministry of Education in the Syrian transitional government that limits Kurdish-language education to three classes per week. They are insisting on their right to education in their mother tongue and calling for Kurdish to be adopted as a core and comprehensive language in the curriculum, as well as for its full recognition and an end to treating it as a secondary or foreign language.

Derik Sit-in Enters Fifth Day

Meanwhile, the sit-in tent outside Yusuf al-Azma School in Derik, established by the People's Initiative, entered its fifth day. Residents of Derik and its villages, along with students, continue to take shifts at the tent, demanding their right to their mother tongue and rejecting its marginalization.

Dozens of residents from the villages of Kocerat and students arrived at the tent today to take part in the shifts, reaffirming their determination to continue activities opposing the restriction of Kurdish-language education to three classes per week.

Since schools opened for the current academic year, students in Derik have continued to boycott classes in protest against the Syrian Ministry of Education's decision to limit Kurdish-language instruction to only three classes.

Protest in Sanjak Saadoun

In the village of Sanjak Saadoun in the countryside of Amuda, a large protest was held at Abdulhamid Bijo School, attended by a large number of students, parents and members of the village council. They expressed their firm rejection of the policy of limiting Kurdish-language instruction to three classes per week.

The protesters called for Kurdish to become a core and comprehensive language of instruction, stressing that their cultural and linguistic rights are not subject to negotiation or reduction.

The protest comes amid growing popular and community demands in the region for the mother tongue to be given its full place in the school curriculum and not be treated as a secondary or foreign language.

During the gathering, student Knaf Suleiman read a statement addressed to the public on behalf of the protesters, emphasizing the dimensions of identity and resistance embodied in the Kurdish language.

The statement read: “Our language is our existence. It is not merely words; it is history, identity and resistance. In every word are the blood of martyrs, the feelings of mothers and the dreams of our children. We no longer accept our language being viewed as something temporary. The mother tongue is a fundamental human right, not a privilege granted to us, and every Kurdish child has the absolute right to read, write and pursue their dreams in their mother tongue.”

The statement condemned the restriction of Kurdish-language education to a few classes, saying, “For years, they tried to silence us, but we hid our voice and preserved it in our language. Today, that voice has become a cry, a school and a book. The Kurdish language cannot be learned in just three hours. Our language must be the primary language of education.”

The statement continued: “Our right to learn in our mother tongue is not a gift from anyone to grant or take away. It is the blood running through our veins and our name, which they have tried to take from us for a century. We will no longer attend schools where our language is treated as a foreign language, nor will we read books that do not carry our names and identity.”

The statement concluded with the slogans, “There is no life without language” and “Our language is our identity.”

A-H 

ANHA