Religious Education in Turkey
The religious education in Turkey is heavily dependent Kemalist principle of secularism marked. In fact, there are three different forms of religious instruction in Turkey today : State instruction in schools; the "Koran lessons" carried out by the Islamic religious communities, which, however, are under the supervision of the Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı (Presidium for Religious Affairs); and thirdly, the more illegal forms of secret Koran courses.
Development of Religious Education in Modern Turkey
After the Turkish government under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk ordered the abolition of the caliphate and the standardization of the teaching and education system on March 3rd, 1924 , all Islamic educational institutions in Turkey were closed. In the autumn of 1924, religious instruction was abolished at the grammar schools and those equivalent to grammar schools, in 1930 it was removed from the curriculum as an optional subject in the middle schools, and in the elementary schools of the cities religious instruction was also removed from the courses in 1936 and in 1938 as well in rural elementary schools. This system, without any form of official religious education in schools, remained until 1949 .
The abolition of all forms of religious education met with broad opposition from the beginning. There were forms of illegal private lessons in the form of Koran courses. But also officially, voices were increasingly loud that broke a lance for a milder interpretation of the principle of secularism and thus the reintroduction of state religious education. The main arguments here were: the spread of sectarianism and superstitious practices, the reference to Islam as part of national culture, and, not least in the context of the looming Cold War, the argument that Islam could serve as a means to curb the spread of communism .
In 1949, religious instruction in the 4th and 5th grades in primary schools was re-admitted as an optional subject of one hour per week. The lessons had to follow the requirements of the Ministry of Education and were completely under state supervision. In the May 1950 election campaign , the reintroduction of religious education was a key issue. In 1956 , religious instruction was reintroduced in middle schools and in 1967 in high schools. In 1982 religious education was anchored as a regular subject in the Turkish constitution . According to Article 24 of the Constitution, participation in religious education in primary and secondary schools is compulsory. The full subject is called "Religious and Ethics Lessons" (Din Kültürü ve Ahlak Bilgisi).
In order to be able to uphold the principle of secularism, the lessons should only cover the theoretical foundations of religion . The reason for this legal anchoring of religious education was that the Turkish state did not want to lose its influence on religious education. As part of these reforms, the curricula were also reformed and were given the form that is still valid today.
Individual evidence
- ↑ See Kaymakcan 186f
literature
- Recep Kaymakcan: "Pluralism and Constructivism in Turkish Religious Education for Religious Teachers and Religious Education Programs" in B. Ucar, D. Bergmann (Ed.): Islamic Religious Education in Germany. Didactic concepts: starting point, expectations and goals . Osnabrück 2010. pp. 185-200.