Turkish Ministry of Education provides 50 teaching positions for Kurdish

Turkish Ministry of Education provides 50 teaching positions for Kurdish
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The Turkish Ministry of Education has created 50 teaching positions to teach Kurdish, marking a departure from symbolic appointments made in previous years according to experts

Turkish Ministry of Education has announced the opening of 50 teaching positions for Kurdish language classes to be taught in schools during the 2023-24 academic year, allocating the first time such a high number. The Ministry announced that 35 of the 50 positions will be for teaching the Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish, while the remaining 15 positions will be for teaching the Zazaki dialect.

In previous years, the appointment of Kurdish language teachers has been a controversial issue. Last year, there were only two positions for Kurdish language teachers, and the year before there were only three.

For years, the Diyarbakır Education Monitoring and Reform Initiative (DIERG) has been campaigning via social media for an increase in the number of teaching positions for Kurdish language classes.

Prof. Dr. Aziz Yagan, the director of DİERG, commented on the Ministry's announcement in an interview with VOA Turkish, stating that the allocation of 15 positions for the endangered Zazaki language is particularly positive. Despite the relatively small number of appointments, Yagan believes that this announcement marks the end of symbolic appointments made in previous years.

Yagan also noted that the Ministry's decision to allocate such a significant number of teaching positions indicates a break from the Ministry's previously held prejudices against Kurdish language education. He believes that this decision will help to reduce the stigma surrounding Kurdish language education and make Kurdish-speaking students and parents feel more secure.