Discrimination

Discrimination in Turkey’s Education System 57
was transferred to another school. In Van, a student
who chose an elective other than these three
courses was given permission to take a course at
another school. 149
Interviewees reported that the children of
Christian refugees living in Turkey are theoretically
exempt from RCaM lessons but in practice are
made to take the elective religion courses. 150
vi. Provision of places of worship in schools
On 13 September 2014 an amendment was
made to the MoNE Regulation on Secondary Education
Institutions regarding setting aside a naturally
lit space in schools for worship. 151 The change
to the statement in the previous regulation, which
read ‘A suitable space may be set aside to meet
the needs of worship if such a request is made’,
raised concerns that the provision of places of
Muslim worship at schools would become obligatory
and that pressure would be put on students
to use them. In response to these concerns, the
Minister of National Education, Nabi Avcı, made a
statement in which he said that places of worship
would be provided where there was a demand and
that worship would not be compulsory:
‘In many schools there are places set aside for teachers
and students to worship if they choose to do so, but these
are generally located in the school’s basement [and] in
places that are not suitable for worship. To clarify this,
we highlighted in our regulation that these should be
provided in “spaces that receive daylight.” Schools
where there is a need will provide this kind of service...
We say they can be provided; they can be provided in
places where there is a need. But worship is not compulsory.’
152
149 Association of Protestant Churches, op. cit.
150 Account given by a representative of the
Association of Protestant Churches at a workshop
held in Diyarbakır on 14 February 2015.
151 ‘Regulation on Amendments to the Regulation
on Ministry of National Education Regulation
on Private Education Institutions’, published in
Official Gazette No. 29118 dated 13 September
2014, article 42.
152 Bülent Sarıoğlu, Gamze Kolcu, ‘Okula Zorunlu
Mescit Tartışması’, Hürriyet, 16 September 2014,
In the month following the amendment to the
regulation, a memorandum was sent to schools by
the MoNE laying out the standards for the places
of worship to be provided in schools. 153 According
to a newspaper report published in February
2015, places of worship had been established at
22 schools in Diyarbakır. 154 According to another
newspaper report, a Provincial Director of Education
announced that the prayer room at one
school would be a practical space for the RCaM
course. 155 The use of such prayer rooms for this
purpose is likely to increase concerns that practices
applied in this course sometimes go beyond
the scope of the curriculum, because it does not
otherwise require students to carry out ablutions
or perform ritual prayers. If, as well as having to
listen to theoretical information that conflicts with
their beliefs, students (particularly non-Muslim or
non-Sunni Muslim students) who are made to follow
the RCaM course also have to carry out rituals
of worship, this would compound the rights violations
to which they are subjected.
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/27211138.
asp
153 These standards were the following: ‘1. Prayer
rooms provided in schools should have a window
that receives daylight; 2. Separate prayer rooms
should be provided for male and female students;
3. In schools with up to one thousand students
the prayer room should measure at least 12 m 2 ,
and schools with over one thousand students
should provide an extra 12 m 2 per thousand
students; 4. Prayer rooms should be equipped
with heating systems; 5. The floor of the prayer
rooms should be wood and covered with carpet;
6. A shoe rack should be placed at the entrance of
the prayer rooms; 7. The prayer room should have
a wall-mounted coat rack and shelf measuring
20 x 50 cm; 8. Curtains should be placed on
the windows.’ See ‘Okullara Mescit Genelgesi
Yollandı’, Radikal, 23 December 2014, http://www.
radikal.com.tr/turkiye/okullara_mescit_genelgesi_
yollandi-1257444.
154 ‘22 Okulda Mescit Açıldı’, Öz Diyarbakır, 16
February 2015, http://ozdiyarbakirgazetesi.com/
index.php/home/news/4982
155 ‘7’nci Sınıf Öğrencisi, Okula Mescit Derslik
Yaptırdı’, 12 June 2015, http://www.mynet.com/
haber/guncel/7nci-sinif-ogrencisi-okula-mescitderslik-yaptirdi-1881337-1