Armenians seek change to questions on religion exam
The Armenian community may see a long sought change to an exam that is challenging for Turkish-Armenian students - an exam on religion classes that focus on Islam.
The transition from Primary to Secondary Education (TEOG) exam, held for admission of primary and elementary school students to high school, had questions on Judaism for Jewish students for the first time last year.
Now Armenian students may have the same opportunity, as they negotiate the introduction of questions on Armenia and Armenian Orthodox Christianity with the National Education Ministry, according to reports.
It is expected that questions on the exam's section on Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge courses, which focuses on Islam, will be modified to include questions on Christianity and introduced on next year's TEOG.
In this context, eighth graders at Armenian schools will study new textbooks to prepare them for the exam.
Students from Jewish, Greek and Armenian schools have complained of being required to answer questions on the course in exams on Islam.
Turkey has a small Christian community, mainly Greek Orthodox groups, Armenians and Syriacs along with smaller Catholic and Protestant congregations. A religious curriculum for the Christian community has long been on the agenda of the National Education Ministry. Media reported last year that the ministry contacted prominent Christian groups in the country seeking their assistance in establishing Christian theology classes that will be offered as elective courses at grade schools.
Turkey's non-Muslim minorities have long been treated as second-class citizens and deprived of their rights such as opening their own schools. Since the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) came to power in 2002, minorities have seen an improvement in their rights such as the return of properties belonging to Christian communities years after they were seized by the state.
Religious curriculums have been a thorny issue in Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country, especially for members of the Alevi faith, a branch of Shiite Islam. They claim Sunni Islam was imposed upon young Alevi children through obligatory religion classes that focus on Sunni Islam. In September, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued a verdict stating that Turkey must reform its religious curriculum education in schools "to ensure respect for parents' convictions."
The transition from Primary to Secondary Education (TEOG) exam, held for admission of primary and elementary school students to high school, had questions on Judaism for Jewish students for the first time last year.
Now Armenian students may have the same opportunity, as they negotiate the introduction of questions on Armenia and Armenian Orthodox Christianity with the National Education Ministry, according to reports.
It is expected that questions on the exam's section on Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge courses, which focuses on Islam, will be modified to include questions on Christianity and introduced on next year's TEOG.
In this context, eighth graders at Armenian schools will study new textbooks to prepare them for the exam.
Students from Jewish, Greek and Armenian schools have complained of being required to answer questions on the course in exams on Islam.
Turkey has a small Christian community, mainly Greek Orthodox groups, Armenians and Syriacs along with smaller Catholic and Protestant congregations. A religious curriculum for the Christian community has long been on the agenda of the National Education Ministry. Media reported last year that the ministry contacted prominent Christian groups in the country seeking their assistance in establishing Christian theology classes that will be offered as elective courses at grade schools.
Turkey's non-Muslim minorities have long been treated as second-class citizens and deprived of their rights such as opening their own schools. Since the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) came to power in 2002, minorities have seen an improvement in their rights such as the return of properties belonging to Christian communities years after they were seized by the state.
Religious curriculums have been a thorny issue in Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country, especially for members of the Alevi faith, a branch of Shiite Islam. They claim Sunni Islam was imposed upon young Alevi children through obligatory religion classes that focus on Sunni Islam. In September, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued a verdict stating that Turkey must reform its religious curriculum education in schools "to ensure respect for parents' convictions."
Last Update: July 27, 2015 01:17