ASIA/SYRIA - Christian schools re-open in Qamishli after the "suspension" imposed by Kurdish autonomists

Wednesday, 12 September 2018 middle east oriental churches sectaniarism school education kurds

ankawa.com

SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC

2024-02-15
An office opened in Raqqa to "protect" the properties of Christians in north-east Syria

2023-11-15
Hell in Holy Land

2023-10-12
Syrian Christians stand with the suffering people in the Holy Land

2023-08-01
"For the love of Jesus and for the savior of Muslims". Archbishop Jacques Mourad recounts Father Dall'Oglio's missionary heart, 10 years from his disappearance

2023-07-03
Franciscan Hanna Jallouf new Apostolic Vicar in Aleppo. Safeguarding the hope of the poor even in the lands dominated by jihadists

2023-06-14
After the earthquake, the Arab countries re-embrace the "pariah nation": The end of Syria's isolation as seen by the Holy See

Hassaké (Agenzia Fides) - Schools in the Syrian province of Hassaké affiliated with churches and Christian communities re-open after the temporary suspension of educational activities imposed by the politico-military forces, expression of Kurdish autonomy, committed to establishing forms of self-government. A statement released by the Syrian Orthodox Church and relaunched by local sources reports that the re-opening of Christian schools in the area is scheduled for today, Wednesday 12 September.
As reported by Fides (see Fides 29/8/2018), the question of Christian schools in the province came to the fore in late August, when armed elements of the so-called "Kurdish self-management militias" imposed the closure of some schools which belong to the local Sire and Assyrian Christian communities. The initiative of the Kurdish autonomous militiamen had risked provoking problems of public order, especially in Qamishli, where many students’ parents had spontaneously gathered in front of the Syrian Orthodox church dedicated to the Virgin Mary (see photo) to protest against the closure of Christian schools.
Christian schools were closed due to their reluctance to implement the new school curricula imposed by the Kurdish autonomous forces of the so-called "autonomous self-government of the Jazira Region", which also provide for the obligatory teaching of the Kurdish language in all schools. Critics argue that the new school curricula was organized as a propaganda tool of Kurdish autonomy, while the heads of the autonomous self-government scholastic section describe them as an attempt to raise the educational offer of the schools in the region, by archiving obsolete school programs. (GV) (Agenzia Fides, 12/9/2018)