Turkey’s Armenian schools struggle to survive


(Hurriyet Daily News)- Minority schools in Turkey, of which there are 24 currently, are struggling to survive.

For Turkey’s Armenian community, the meager number of schools for their children is also a problem. With a population of 60,000 and 16 schools across the country, only 3,000 students receive education in Armenian schools.

“There were around 9,000 students in 25 schools at the end of the 1950s. Now, there are 3,000 students in 16 schools. When the education system in Turkey changes, it affects our schools, too,” Istanbul Dadyan Armenian School’s founder Arsen Arşık said.

“Because high school and university entrance exams are conducted by a centralized education system, parents want classes like physics and mathematics to be taught in Turkish, which we have the right to offer in Armenian,” Arsen Arşık added.