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ARMENIAN COMMUNITY DEMANDS REFORM IN EDUCATION
Today's Zaman
Sept 17 2012
Turkey
Representatives of the Turkish-Armenian community have renewed their
plea for reform in education to eliminate the state of uncertainty
for children of illegal Armenian immigrant workers, who are not
considered officially eligible to receive education in state schools,
through receiving a valid diploma rather than being granted "guest
student status."
Officials of the GedikpaÅ~_a Armenian Protestant Church, which opened
its doors last year to 84 students whose parents are undocumented
immigrants in Turkey from Armenia, are still awaiting a response to
their ongoing grievances.
The church officials are striving to provide education for 100 students
this school year under tough conditions, facing many legal and physical
challenges. The classes are held in the basement of the church and
some of the makeshift classrooms have no doors. The classrooms used to
be divided by curtains before board separators were recently installed.
"Churches do not only provide religious services. So we took
responsibility and took those children in," Krikor Agabaloglu told
Today's Zaman last year. However, the problems they face have not
changed since then.
Church officials and families are frustrated that nothing has changed
since last year as they tried to address the fact that "guest student
status" does not correspondent to the needs of Armenian immigrants'
students. The parents of these Armenian children were concerned because
guest student status would not be enough for their children, who needed
proof of their education in Armenia, where they planned to return.
Agabaloglu said granting "guest student status" was a deceptive move
and aims to silence the community. "Neither we nor any family are
happy with that. We call on the state to give our children a valid
certificate or a valid diploma."
Regarding the status of illegal Armenian workers, he underlined that
the state prefers to name Armenian workers as immigrants rather than
illegal workers. If it considers them as immigrants, he noted that the
state has to recognize the right of education in their language for
Armenian students with regard to international norms for immigrants.
"The problem still prevails and there is no reason to think positively
about the current picture. No decision or policy of the state solved
the problem," he said, expressing his disappointment on government
policies.
Turkey's new academic year kicked off on Monday for around 17 million
students and 800,000 teachers, with a new education system that
increases the duration of compulsory education from an uninterrupted
eight years to 12 years. The introduction of the system has sparked
ongoing discussions over its practicability.
Beyond that, there are also serious challenges for the children of
illegal Armenian immigrants. Regarding children of "illegal Armenian
workers" if they are born in Turkey, their parents cannot apply for
Turkish citizenship for their child because they are undocumented
aliens. They cannot go back to Armenia, either, because then they
will not be able to return to Turkey. Therefore, the child is not
able to obtain an Armenian passport. According to laws in Turkey,
only Turkish citizens of Armenian descent are allowed at "Armenian
minority schools" in the country.
Since 2003, the number of students has gradually increased even though
the Turkish government has allowed those children to be accepted in
local Armenian schools as "guest students" this school year.
Highlighting that they praised what Turkey had done for Myanmar, which
is not a familiar place for most people in Turkey, Agabaloglu said that
the state should show the same sensitivity towards its own citizens.
"Any child cannot be kept responsible for the festering problems
between two states [Turkey and Armenia]. Turkey could lose nothing but
would gain a lot by providing a future to these children. This could
easily bring prestige to Turkey in the international arena," he stated.
Seda Movsisyan, 11, who has been living in Turkey with her family
for 10 years, said they are living with the dream of gaining Turkish
citizenship.
"I have come to this church since I was a first grader. Two years from
now, I will complete my eight-year education but this does not help
anything because I will not be given a diploma or a valid certificate.
So I will be treated as if I have never gone to school. This really
upsets us," the young student said. Movsisyan urged the prime minister
to understand their situation and to help them.
Heriknaz Avagyan, the school principal, said the classrooms are very
small and the church garden not large enough for lectures. They are
trying to provide an education under adverse conditions in the church
basement. A total of 100 students are educated at the GedikpaÅ~_a
Armenian Protestant Church, while 10 teachers work there.
From: A. Papazian
Today's Zaman
Sept 17 2012
Turkey
Representatives of the Turkish-Armenian community have renewed their
plea for reform in education to eliminate the state of uncertainty
for children of illegal Armenian immigrant workers, who are not
considered officially eligible to receive education in state schools,
through receiving a valid diploma rather than being granted "guest
student status."
Officials of the GedikpaÅ~_a Armenian Protestant Church, which opened
its doors last year to 84 students whose parents are undocumented
immigrants in Turkey from Armenia, are still awaiting a response to
their ongoing grievances.
The church officials are striving to provide education for 100 students
this school year under tough conditions, facing many legal and physical
challenges. The classes are held in the basement of the church and
some of the makeshift classrooms have no doors. The classrooms used to
be divided by curtains before board separators were recently installed.
"Churches do not only provide religious services. So we took
responsibility and took those children in," Krikor Agabaloglu told
Today's Zaman last year. However, the problems they face have not
changed since then.
Church officials and families are frustrated that nothing has changed
since last year as they tried to address the fact that "guest student
status" does not correspondent to the needs of Armenian immigrants'
students. The parents of these Armenian children were concerned because
guest student status would not be enough for their children, who needed
proof of their education in Armenia, where they planned to return.
Agabaloglu said granting "guest student status" was a deceptive move
and aims to silence the community. "Neither we nor any family are
happy with that. We call on the state to give our children a valid
certificate or a valid diploma."
Regarding the status of illegal Armenian workers, he underlined that
the state prefers to name Armenian workers as immigrants rather than
illegal workers. If it considers them as immigrants, he noted that the
state has to recognize the right of education in their language for
Armenian students with regard to international norms for immigrants.
"The problem still prevails and there is no reason to think positively
about the current picture. No decision or policy of the state solved
the problem," he said, expressing his disappointment on government
policies.
Turkey's new academic year kicked off on Monday for around 17 million
students and 800,000 teachers, with a new education system that
increases the duration of compulsory education from an uninterrupted
eight years to 12 years. The introduction of the system has sparked
ongoing discussions over its practicability.
Beyond that, there are also serious challenges for the children of
illegal Armenian immigrants. Regarding children of "illegal Armenian
workers" if they are born in Turkey, their parents cannot apply for
Turkish citizenship for their child because they are undocumented
aliens. They cannot go back to Armenia, either, because then they
will not be able to return to Turkey. Therefore, the child is not
able to obtain an Armenian passport. According to laws in Turkey,
only Turkish citizens of Armenian descent are allowed at "Armenian
minority schools" in the country.
Since 2003, the number of students has gradually increased even though
the Turkish government has allowed those children to be accepted in
local Armenian schools as "guest students" this school year.
Highlighting that they praised what Turkey had done for Myanmar, which
is not a familiar place for most people in Turkey, Agabaloglu said that
the state should show the same sensitivity towards its own citizens.
"Any child cannot be kept responsible for the festering problems
between two states [Turkey and Armenia]. Turkey could lose nothing but
would gain a lot by providing a future to these children. This could
easily bring prestige to Turkey in the international arena," he stated.
Seda Movsisyan, 11, who has been living in Turkey with her family
for 10 years, said they are living with the dream of gaining Turkish
citizenship.
"I have come to this church since I was a first grader. Two years from
now, I will complete my eight-year education but this does not help
anything because I will not be given a diploma or a valid certificate.
So I will be treated as if I have never gone to school. This really
upsets us," the young student said. Movsisyan urged the prime minister
to understand their situation and to help them.
Heriknaz Avagyan, the school principal, said the classrooms are very
small and the church garden not large enough for lectures. They are
trying to provide an education under adverse conditions in the church
basement. A total of 100 students are educated at the GedikpaÅ~_a
Armenian Protestant Church, while 10 teachers work there.
From: A. Papazian