Diyanet's new project: After-school Quran education
The Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) will open Quran education centers to ensure that students who have memorized the Quran (hafiz) do not forget their memorization upon entering high school. The number of centers, which will begin operations in Ankara, Istanbul, Bursa, and Rize, will be increased to 20. High school students who attend these Quran education centers on scholarships will spend the first half of the day at school and the second half at centers providing exclusively religious education.
12punto
Quran education centers are being opened for students who have memorized the Quran and are entering high school. Students at these boarding Quran education centers will receive their formal education at Imam Hatip high schools determined within the scope of cooperation between Diyanet and the Ministry of National Education (MEB).
Sedide Akbulut, General Manager of Educational Services at the Presidency of Religious Affairs, stated the following regarding the matter:
"After a child puts in a great effort for 2-3 years to memorize the Quran, the intense pressure and puberty when they start high school can lay the groundwork for them to forget their memorization. We are opening these Quran education centers with the intention of protecting our children's memorization and building upon it.
'THE FIRST THING WE EXPECT FROM STUDENTS IS THAT THEY ARE HAFIZ'
Students who have completed their memorization and taken the LGS (High School Entrance Exam) will apply to us. They will both attend high school and follow our curriculum at our education centers. The first thing we expect from students at the Quran education centers is that they are hafiz. In other words, they must be hafiz, have taken the LGS exam, and be enrolled in high school. There is a requirement for both high school enrollment and hafiz status here. Of course, we will also organize an aptitude test after the LGS. A combination will be made based on 50 percent aptitude test and 50 percent LGS success."
The Quran education centers will be paired with high schools determined by the MEB. After students take their classes at school for half the day, they will spend the other half at the Quran education centers.
Our goal in the first year will be to encourage the child to both reinforce their memorization and learn Arabic. In the 2nd and 3rd years, they will move on to basic Islamic education."
Zülal Kalkandelen from Cumhuriyet, in her article regarding the Quran education centers, emphasized that the practice is contrary to the principle of secularism in the constitution and the Basic Law on National Education that the MEB is obliged to follow, stating in summary:
'IT IS CONTRARY TO THE BASIC LAW ON NATIONAL EDUCATION'
"This practice, which will direct children to religious education at the high school stage by telling them 'We will provide you with a scholarship,' is contrary to the principle of secularism in the constitution and the Basic Law on National Education that the MEB is obliged to follow.
Pairing schools affiliated with the MEB, which should provide secular education, with Quran education centers to provide religious education to the child for half the school day, and creating an obligation by tying this to a scholarship, is a clear violation of the principle of secularism.
While another new practice of religionization in education is being initiated in this way, the children of poor families will be specifically targeted. If you consider the vocational training center (MESEM) practice, which we criticize because it distances students from formal education and directs them to alternative courses, now the children of poor families are being squeezed between two options: Either accept being cheap labor in MESEMs or be forced into Imam Hatip schools and Quran memorization courses."