A Response on Education in Turkey
After keenly going through the article on education in Turkey, I have consequently come to the conclusion that it does not portray or correlate to any of my personal beliefs or philosophy. The single belief that I hold is the freedom to receive education with no regard to my religion, race or the manner of my dressing. The article is concerned about culture, religion and education. It is more based on the introduction of compulsory Muslim education in schools to children at their tender ages. Children should be allowed to learn and become what they strive to be as they grow up, be it a doctor, nurse, engineers or even Imams. No person, be it a parent or politician is supposed to hinder or control dream and desire of children depending on what they attribute to be good.
With the intention of fulfilling the dream of several young Turkish boys and girls, the age at which they join this imam hatip schools should be reviewed upwards. From experience, the draft bill being proposed by Erdogan’s AKP that aims at lowering the age at which these boys and girls join these schools, should not be so as these children have not yet known what they want to become in their coming years. Children reach a certain age where they are able to know what they want to become. It is therefore does not acquire the aspect of quality as most critics did state. This is bound to hinder the quality while improving the quantity. It is vivid that this bill does not have the basic aspect of education as its foundation.
The sentiments raised by Erdogan that “We want to raise a religious youth” are statements that hold far negative consequences for the dreams that children want to achieve. The with the desire to raise a society that is lives according to their morals and norms of the Muslim religion, the political class is creating an environment that kills the objective of education as the moral good of education is being sort. The parliament in Turkey and similar to other countries put are known to put in bills that they know they will benefit be it acquiring popularity or being in powerful positions and any rejection is positively crafted to blame those who reject it. Erdogan’s, who later acquired power after Erbakan was overthrown, did away with the elements that he thought blocked religious education. Personally, the move to use the military to achieve his objective of raising a religious society may have acquired a negative trait, as it should have been pushed in a manner that it would have been incorporated in the education system and not necessarily made compulsory. This would be no different from forcing a child to become a head Imam.
Considering that the bill was geared towards raising a society that was not void of the traditional values, it was actually declining on the social aspects. The inclusion of religious education in the Turkish education system surely does have its benefits but making it compulsory was a backward trend. Taking from what an Islam expert stated, that the Imam-Hatip model moves religious education away from the privately owned mosques to the state. This is beneficial in countering extremism. If the system is introduced and implemented in a more balanced way, it would definitely acquire the benefits of education in the Islamic countries for instance Afghanistan and Pakistan among others. Putting in place centralized bodies so as to allocate the curriculum desired answers for matters like extremism.
It goes without saying that the thought of making Turkey a religious setting by introducing compulsory religious education does bring the country back. It tries to force the students to become what they want. The mixture of politics and education is brings a tasteless outcome that is far negative especially with the involvement of the military so as to push an agenda and take powerful positions.
