Top School Converted Into Imam-Hatip Amid Increase In Religious Schools

A prominent high school in Ankara that has offered a mainstream education for 60 years has been converted into a religious high school amid a steady rise in the number of religious schools in Turkey, despite criticism by some former students who have vowed to protest the decision, a Turkish newspaper has reported.

The Ankara Provincial Education Directorate has decided to convert the Yıldırım Beyazıt Anatolian High School into an imam-hatip high school, a type of school that provides an Islamic religious education, the Cumhuriyet daily reported on Tuesday.

According to statistics released by the Ministry of Education in April, the number of students currently attending imam-hatip middle schools is 385,000, while the number attending imam-hatip high schools is 546,000, with a total of 932,000 students attending such schools. The ministry also says that the total number of students attending imam-hatip schools was only 658,000 in the 2013-14 school year.

According to another report in Cumhuriyet on Tuesday, 25 new imam-hatip schools have been opened in the last six weeks.

Yıldırım Beyazıt Anatolian High School is one of the most renowned high schools in Ankara and has educated famous figures such as Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel, former Supreme Court of Appeals President Ali Alkan and former Ankara Mayor Ali Dinçer. The decision to transform it into an imam-hatip school prompted the Association of the Yıldırım Beyazıt Students (YILDER) to discuss the matter with the Ankara governor and the governor of Altındağ district, where the school is located.

Representatives of the association were told that the provincial education directorate had decided to convert the school into an imam-hatip in order to meet the growing demand for such schools in Altındağ. YILDER then filed a petition with the Altındağ Governor's Office, demanding the cancellation of the decision and vowing to stage protests against the move by the education directorate.

The government has faced frequent criticism for trying to manipulate the education system in line with a political Islamist agenda by limiting the alternatives available to students who complete primary school and pushing them to attend imam-hatip high schools. At an event on June 30, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hailed the increase in enrollment at such schools, saying that it would help to raise pious Muslim children.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)