Disputed territories Kurdish-language education is in crisis: officials

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The number of students being educated in the Kurdish language in the disputed areas of Kirkuk, Salahadin is in decline, according to sources in the educational sector.

The long-delay of teachers on the payroll of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) receiving their salaries, as well as the exodus of great numbers of Kurdish teachers to the Kurdistan Region since the federal government took control of the areas in 2017 has led to a shortage of teachers and consequently decreased enrollment in schools teaching in the language, officials say.

"If Kurdish studies continues to have problems, it will create worry among the parents of Kurdish pupils and students. They will find Arabic studies a solution for them," warns Sherzad Rashid Kaka, the KRG’s head of Kurdish studies in Kirkuk.

According to a number of Kurdish schools in Kirkuk, parents who can afford to are already enrolling their children in private schools taught in English and Arabic.

Blesa Primary School, which educates their pupils in Kurdish, is experiencing a decline in enrollments compared to the previous year as they have lost a number of their Kurdish teachers.  

"Last year, we welcomed 75 grade one pupils. We put them in three classes. The number has declined to 55 this year," Drakhshan Ibrahim, the Blesa school principal said.

"In our school, there are two kinds of teachers, those paid by the central government and others by the Region. Teachers paid by the KRG loyally do their work, yet they are paid once every 50 to 60 days," Ibrahim said. "But teachers associated with the center, receive their salaries every month on time."

Kaka says the Iraqi federal government controlled General Directorate of Education in Kirkuk is planning to replace the curriculum at the Kurdish schools, and have the majority of classes be taught in Arabic. He says Kurdish authorities in the city have thus far thwarted the efforts.

An estimated 615 schools and 32 kindergartens in Kirkuk province educate students in the Kurdish language. These are run by 7,600 teachers and 400 support staff, according to data from the Kurdish Studies Department in Kirkuk. There are 98,000 Kurds studying the Kurdish language in the province.

Officials in the disputed territory of Tuz Khurmatu also say Kurdish-language education is also in decline. Of the 50 Kurdish schools in the city, located 155 kilometers south of Erbil city and near Kirkuk, 10 of them are closed. 

"We had an estimated 8,000 students and pupils. It has reduced to 6,000," Tariq Ahmed, the head of Kurdish Studies Department in Tuz Khurmatu, told Rudaw on Tuesday, adding the number of teachers has also declined.

"We currently have 550 teachers in Tuz Khurmatu, down from 650," Ahmed added. 

The KRG has not paid public sector employees on time or in full since Baghdad stopped sending funds in April. Kurdish officials have openly said they cannot pay civil servants without money from the federal government.

Though the two sides reached a temporary deal in mid-August that should see the federal government send 320 billion dinars ($268 million) per month in order for the KRG to pay its civil servants for August, September, and October, the deal has not yet materialized, with the federal government also blighted by a serious economic crisis.

After the US-led invasion that ousted the Baathist regime in 2003, the KRG established inclusive studies administrative units in many of the disputed areas such as Kirkuk, Shingal, Mandali, Makhmour, Sheikhan, Dubiz and Tuz Khurmatu, employing thousands of employees. 

As a result of events on October 16, 2017, when the Peshmerga withdrew from the disputed province and the Iraqi army and Shiite paramilitaries took over, a large number of teachers and students fled Kirkuk. 

The ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk was garrisoned by the Peshmerga at the peak of ISIS war. Since their withdrawal, the city has seen a new wave of ‘Arabization’ policies on a scale not seen since the Baathist era.

Dozens of Kurdish officials have been removed from local authority posts since October 16.

Reporting by Hadi Mohammad
Translation by Zhelwan Z. Wali