Turkey’s National Education Ministry amended its Regulation on Preschool and Primary Education Institutions, making it mandatory to establish Muslim prayer rooms in the boarding houses of preschool and primary education institutions, as well as regional secondary boarding schools. The amendment was published in the Saturday’s issue of Turkey’s Official Gazette.
Previously, the establishment of a masjid (a smaller, local mosque) in these educational institutions was dependent on demand and the suitability of physical conditions. The new amendment makes it obligatory, regardless of these factors.
In recent months, the Ministry’s Board of Education and Discipline has also altered elective courses. A decision published in the Journal of Official Announcements (Tebliğler Dergisi) now requires secondary school students to choose at least one course from elective groups including ‘human, society and science’, ‘religion, ethics and values’, and ‘culture, arts and sports’. The elective courses have also been expanded to include Information Technologies and Software, Visual Arts, Drama, and Intelligence Games, while courses like Chess, Folk Culture, and Thinking Education have been removed.
These changes have ignited controversy, particularly among professional organisations. Kadem Özbay, President of Education and Science Workers (Eğitim İş), an organisation advocating for a secular education model, stated, “The Ministry has already transformed these courses into ‘mandatory’ rather than optional. With this latest move, they have formalised this imposition.”
Yıldırım Kaya, an MP from Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), pointed out the shift away from a science-based education model. He expressed concerns over the reduced class hours in subjects like mathematics, physics, and chemistry, and the near absence of social sciences and physical education courses.
