The Dailytimes; The religious schools are an opportunity for youngsters to study to be imams, ministers argue

Education reforms which would allow parents to put their children in religious schools at 10 have sparked fierce debate on whether they would dent Turkey’s secular credentials and even provoked a punch-up in parliament.

Under new proposals which could be on the statute book within weeks, children will now be able to taken out of the secondary school system and undergo vocational training four years earlier than at present.

The government insists it is not pursuing an “ideological agenda” and that the goal is to prepare students for professional life in a country where youth unemployment exceeds 20 percent of the workforce. The religious schools are an opportunity for youngsters to study to be imams, ministers argue.

However teachers and big business have joined the opposition in decrying the moves as another attack on secularism by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), a movement which has strong religious roots.

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