Kirkuk Kurdish education faces marginalization as new school year begins
The start of the new academic year highlights the ongoing struggle for Kurdish education in Kirkuk and the need for continued support and advocacy to ensure that Kurdish students have access to quality education in their mother tongue.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - The new academic year kicks off today in Kirkuk and other Iraqi provinces, amid concerns about the marginalization of Kurdish education in Kirkuk since 2017.
Kamaran Ali, director of Kurdish education in Kirkuk province, revealed to Kurdistan24 that 100,000 students are enrolled in Kurdish education this year, including 10,000 first-year students.
While Ali expressed pride in the recent hiring of 1,100 teachers and the provision of nearly one million textbooks, thanks to the efforts of Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and the Ministry of Education, he also voiced concerns about the ongoing challenges facing Kurdish education in the region.
"We have been marginalized and expelled from Kirkuk province since 2017," Ali stated. He appealed to the Kirkuk provincial council and the new governor to address the situation, emphasizing the importance of Kurdish education in the Kurdish territories outside the Kurdistan Region control as outlined in Article 140 of the constitution.
Despite the challenges, the Kurdish Education Directorate in Kirkuk oversees 555 schools and kindergartens, employing over 8,000 teachers and staff whose salaries are paid by the Kurdistan Regional Government.
This underscores the KRG's commitment to preserving Kurdish language and culture in the region, even in the face of political and administrative obstacles.
The start of the new academic year highlights the ongoing struggle for Kurdish education in Kirkuk and the need for continued support and advocacy to ensure that Kurdish students have access to quality education in their mother tongue.