Turkey, which recently adopted a series of reforms making it possible to select Kurdish as a language course in public schools and conduct every subject in Kurdish in private schools, can hire teachers from northern Iraq, according to the education minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Education Minister Asmat Muhammad Khalid said the KRG government is ready to dispatch Kurdish-speaking teachers to Turkey if necessary. He praised the recent democratization package in Turkey which allowed education in one's mother tongue but said it is a right universally recognized and noted that Turkey has been somewhat of a latecomer.
He said although English is increasingly becoming the educational lingua franca of the world, education in one's mother tongue still preserves its importance. “Everybody should be able to access education in their mother language. This is an internationally recognized right that cannot be denied.”
Khalid noted that his ministry had prepared the program for the Kurdish language department at Turkey's Mardin Artuklu University. “Two years ago, we prepared a Kurdish teaching program together with Mardin Artuklu University President Serdar Bedii Omay. This year, 500 students at Mardin University attended graduate classes in the Kurdish language department. I am very happy with this. We are ready to lend support to Turkey on this issue anytime and would only be happy to do so.”
Minister Khalid added that the Turkish government had taken important steps regarding Kurdish in recent times but said “more radical decisions” need to be taken.
