Turkish education directorate urges students to fast during Ramadan

The Education Directorate in an Istanbul district has instructed schools with a list of events for Ramadan, including a directive to encourage fasting and track students who did during Ramadan. The Eğitim-Sen teachers’ union criticized the move, calling it religious imposition.

Saturday March 01 2025 01:25 pm

Osman Çaklı / Gazete Duvar

The Education Directorate in Istanbul's Kadıköy district has sent a directive to administrators at Kadıköy Vocational High School. The directive, titled “Events That Can Be Held in Schools Before and During Ramadan,” instructed administrators to encourage students to fast and to keep a record of those who do.

Çayan Çalık, the legal secretary of the Education Workers' Union Eğitim-Sen's local branch, said parents also opposed the practice, describing it as the imposition of a de facto situation. He added that students had already been involved in religious activities through a series of exhibitions before Ramadan.

Çalık said, “They have created religious corners in schools and are organizing events. Exhibitions have been ongoing for about a month."

Since the implementation of the 4+4+4 education system in 2012, the number of İmam Hatip schools has increased, according to the union representative.

"The Islamization of schools has not been limited to that. Vocational and Anatolian high schools have been turned into İmam Hatip schools. None of this is in the regulations," he continued.

The union representative noted that the “I Am Sensitive to My Environment and Uphold My Values" (ÇEDES) project where the Education Ministry collaborated with the Religious Affairs Directorate was based on a protocol, but now the Ministry has started "imposing these religious teachings on students as a necessity.”

Çalık noted that parents had expressed concern, saying, “Despite the excessive number of İmam Hatip schools, their enrollment quotas are not being filled, while class sizes in other schools have reached 40 students.”

He added that similar messages had been sent in Kadıköy and other districts and that those committed to this agenda were imposing these practices. “In Sancaktepe, we are organized. There is a morning-afternoon school system in place. Even though there is no real need, many İmam Hatip schools have been opened. Unlike in İmam Hatip schools, parents in other schools are being asked to contribute money. This is being systematically imposed,” he said.

Çalık stated that these activities had been de facto legitimized, saying, “There is no institutional structure left. Secular and scientific education has been discarded. Those who can afford it are sending their children to private schools.”

The message sent by the District Directorate of National Education included a list of 23 directives, such as encouraging students to fast with certificates, and introducing younger students to half-day fasting traditions.

Also, schools were told to decorate classrooms and hallways with stars and crescents to "reflect the spirit of the month," and organize Quran recitation events for students and parents.