Discrimination

48 Discrimination in Turkey’s Education System
Exemption from lessons: Requirement of
a letter of application
The children of Christian and Jewish parents
can be exempted from compulsory RCaM lessons.
According to decision no. 1 of the MoNE General
Directorate of Religious Education High Commission
for Education dated 9 July 1990, non-Muslim
students can be exempted from RCaM lessons on
the provision that they provide documentation of
their belief. Even though students have the right
not to participate in the lessons, many school
administrations are unaware of this decision; in
some cases children are made to take the RCaM
lessons or a written application for exemption is
requested from parents. 98
In practice the exemption mechanism varies
from school to school. While students whose identity
cards indicate that they are Christian or Jewish
should be exempted from these lessons without
needing to submit an application, some schools
still require parents to apply for exemption. 99 Responding
to such applications can take months,
during which time the students have to continue
taking the RCaM lessons. For example, a family in
the Sancaktepe district of Istanbul submitted an
application for their child to be granted exemption
from compulsory RCaM lessons, upon which
the school administration stated that the petition
would be sent to the Provincial Directorate of National
Education, and that they would then wait
for the reply. For three months the school administration
stated that no reply had been received from
the Provincial Directorate of National Education,
and during this period the child continued to take
the compulsory RCaM lessons. Wishing to receive
a response to their application, the family visited
the Provincial Directorate of National Education,
98 Association of Protestant Churches, op. cit. A
Christian spiritual leader who was interviewed
reported that petitions were requested from
Christian parents for exemption from the
compulsory RCaM course. Interview with a
Christian spiritual leader, Diyarbakır, 10 February
2015.
99 Account given by a representative of the
Association of Protestant Churches at a workshop
held in Diyarbakır on 14 February 2015.
where they learned that the Directorate had approved
their petition and sent notice of this to the
school months earlier. This example shows how
requests by schools for an application for exemption
from RCaM lessons and the process of evaluation
can be applied arbitrarily and at the expense
of the student.
Proof of belief
In the past, the faith a student adhered to, and
therefore whether or not they would be exempted
from compulsory RCaM lessons, was determined
based on the religion indicated on their identity
card, as well as the identity cards of the student’s
parents. However, according to a memorandum
from the MoNE General Directorate of Religious
Education dated 3 February 2015, only the information
written in the religion section of the student’s
identity card should be taken into account
for exemption from compulsory RCaM lessons. As
such, even if the identity card of a student’s mother
and/or father states that they are Christian or Jewish,
if the student’s own identity card has been left
blank or indicates a religion other than Christianity
or Judaism, the student will not be considered
eligible for exemption from the class. 100 According
to one respondent, 80-85 per cent of the group
known as New Christians made no request to have
the word ‘Islam’ removed from their identity cards
due to fear of discrimination, and that their children’s
identity cards also bear the word ‘Islam’. 101
Parents of children in this situation, or those who
would prefer to leave the religion section of their
children’s identity cards blank (to allow their children
to decide their faith for themselves when they
reach a certain age, or for any another reason) are
therefore forced to write Christian or Jewish in this
section of their children’s identity cards if they
want their children to be granted exemption from
compulsory RCaM lessons.
100 Gönül Koca, ‘Din Dersi Muafiyetine Belge Şartı,’
Hürriyet, 10 February 2015, http://www.hurriyet.
com.tr/egitim/28164296.asp.
101 Account given by a representative of the
Association of Protestant Churches, Istanbul, 7
July 2015.