A draft curriculum presented by Turkey’s National Education Ministry has received a total of 184,042 suggestions, with the most complaints and suggestions coming regarding classes on the theory of evolution and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey.
Most of the people who made suggestions stressed that the theory of evolution should be taught in the fourth year in high school and that information on Atatürk should be increased in the books, religion and morality courses should not be compulsory, Hürriyet newspaper reported.
A corresponding commission in the ministry will re-evaluate the draft and finalise its work by Feb. 20. The process will then be followed by the writing of new textbooks. The theory of evolution is an “archaic and decayed” theory, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş recently claimed, stirring debate.
According to the curriculum drafts, jihadism will be taught in the introductory courses on religious knowledge in imam-hatip religious schools. In the 7th grade, jihadism will be discussed together with patriotism and basic rights and freedoms. In the 8th grade, on the other hand, jihadism will be taught as a way of worshipping Allah within the course unit "Serving Allah and Worshipping".
The government of the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) reshaped the education system along Sunni Islamic lines. In 2012, the government introduced a contentious 12-year compulsory education system with four-year phases of primary, middle and high school, known in Turkey as the “4+4+4”, paving the way for religious middle schools. AKP has been converting a large number of schools into imam-hatip religious schools. After the AKP came to power in 2002, the number of students attending imam - hatip schools increased by 90% to almost 1 million children aged between 10 and 18, or 9% of all students. Under a scheme introduced by the government in 2014, about 40,000 pupils were forcibly enrolled in imam -hatip schools. In some districts, religious vocational schools were suddenly the only alternative for parents who could not afford to educate their children privately.
