The Breakneck Islamization of Turkey’s Education System

Source:Gatestone Institute Date:28Oct2018

All the same, the number of “imam hatip” schools has climbed from 450 in 2002 to 4,112 in 2017. Meanwhile, there are only 302 specialized science high schools in the country.

Imam hatip schools, to educate children for careers as imams and preachers, were opened for the first time in Turkey in 1924. However, ever since the Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002, government authorities have appeared to give these schools precedence over other types of schools, and pour money into them in an apparent attempt to reshape Turkish educational system. Today, the curricula of imam hatip schools contain Islamic courses as well as other courses, but the graduates can study at all departments at universities.

It needs to be added that the Islamization is backfiring.  Ever larger number of young Turks are becoming “Deist” (disawoving Moslem), while AKP’s youth vote has been declining since 2014.

Graduates of imam hatips do poorly in centralized college admission tests, raising  dissatisfaction among conservative parents.