ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish students in northeast Syria (Rojava) have spent the past decade studying in their mother tongue, marking a major shift after decades during which the language was banned for earlier generations.
Nasrin, a 10th-grade student, began her education in Kurdish at the age of seven. “Studying in Arabic would be my absolute last choice. If I am forced to, I will go to south Kurdistan [the Kurdistan Region] to continue my education in Kurdish,” she told Rudaw.
Her teacher, Fadiya Omar, who has taught around 900 students over the course of nine years, remarked, “Kurdish is a very ancient, rich, and beautiful language. We are proud of it.”
Under the Ba’ath Party rule led by the Assad family (1971 - 2024), the use of Kurdish - whether in speaking, writing, publishing, or even singing - was strictly prohibited. Kurdish names for newborns were also banned.
This changed in 2012, when Assad forces withdrew from Rojava and a Kurdish-led administration took control, integrating Kurdish-language education into the school system.
Amina Khalil, Nasrin’s mother, recalled that before then, some families taught Kurdish at home. “When the revolution [2012 withdrawal of Assad forces] unfolded, many people said they would not send their children to these [Kurdish] schools, but I told my daughter that any education - whether in Kurdish or Arabic - is good. Kurdish is our language,” she said.
Institutionalizing Kurdish-language education remains a central demand of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) governing Rojava in ongoing integration talks with the new Syrian leadership that took charge after the ouster of longtime Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
Since 2011, authorities in Rojava have implemented a distinct curriculum featuring Kurdish-language instruction, separate from the Syrian state system. However, a landmark agreement reached on January 29 between Damascus and Kurdish authorities has opened the door to greater academic coordination, including allowing Rojava students to sit national exams and obtain officially recognized certificates.
Ahmad Hilal, a representative of the Syrian presidency overseeing implementation of the January accord, told Rudaw in April that two proposals regarding Kurdish-language education are under discussion. One would introduce Kurdish as a weekly elective subject, while the other would involve translating the national curriculum into Kurdish as an optional track in majority-Kurdish areas such as Hasaka province, Afrin, Kobane, and Kurdish neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo.
Viviyan Fetah contributed to this report from northeast Syria (Rojava).