Arabic and Turkish education to children from Kobanê, but not mother tongue
URFA (DİHA) - Children from Kobanê staying in the state-run AFAD tent city in the old gendarme station are being taught Arabic instead of Kurdish, their mother tongue. People from Kobanê want their children to be taught Kurdish, saying: “in Arabic they are only being given Koranic lessons. They are not being taught to read and write. We don’t know who is running the school.”
Refugees from Kobanê who are staying in the AFAD tent city in the old gendarme post in Aligör district of Urfa say they feel the pressure from police and soldiers in addition to the hardship of the camp. They are also uncomfortable with their children being taught Arabic. 200 children in the camp that houses a thousand refugees are receiving Koranic lessons in Arabic, and not being taught to read and write. The parents want their children to receive mother tongue education, asking why they are only receiving Koran courses in Arabic.
Demand of education in mother tongue
The parents said Turkish classes were to start soon, adding: “We are waging a war for our language and identity and we want our children to receive Kurdish lessons.” They say their applications for Kurdish classes have been ignored. Mihemed Bozan, a camp resident who teaches Kurdish to the children, said: “When the school opened they asked if there were any teachers. I told them I was a teacher and asked them if Kurdish was going to be taught. They told me classes would be in Arabic and Turkish.” Bozan added that only the Koran was being taught saying: “We don’t know who set up this school. They don’t allow people to study in their own language.”
Bozan emphasised that learning in the mother tongue would be easier for everyone, adding: “We want Kurdish lessons for mothers as well as children.”
(nt)
