Shafaq News

Despite being recognized as an official language in Iraq for nearly two decades, Kurdish remains largely sidelined in Arabic-speaking public schools, where it is often taught in name only.

In classrooms from Baghdad to Dhi Qar, Kurdish textbooks gather dust, unqualified staff substitute for instructors, and students sit through what they call “placeholder lessons” — symbolic sessions with little substance.

The neglect reflects deeper structural gaps in Iraq’s multilingual education system and highlights the challenges of enforcing constitutional rights without supporting legislation or oversight.

A Constitutional Language in Name Only

Kurdish, spoken by an estimated 30–40 million people across Iraq, Iran, Turkiye, and Syria, is Iraq’s second official language under Article 4 of the 2005 Constitution. The law guarantees Kurdish equal status with Arabic in government institutions, education, and public communication.

In practice, however, implementation outside the Kurdistan Region remains minimal. While Kurdish is the primary language of instruction across schools in Erbil, Al-Sulaymaniyah, and Duhok, its presence in Arab-majority provinces is often superficial, hampered by teacher shortages, weak enforcement, and a lack of political will.

“There are no assignments, no exams, and no preparation. Even in final exams, the subject doesn’t count,” said Hassan Karim, a fifth-year student at a Baghdad high school. He told Shafaq News that his Kurdish teacher visits the school only once a month and rarely stays more than a few minutes.

“Most of the time, that hour is used for math or English revision,” he added.

No Teachers, No Tracking

In Dhi Qar, English teacher Maytham Abdulrazzaq confirmed that many schools leave Kurdish grades blank on student report cards. “Only the elite private schools take the subject seriously and record actual assessments,” he said.

The Iraqi Ministry of Education admits the problem but insists it is committed to Kurdish language instruction. Ministry spokesperson Karim Al-Sayyid acknowledged the shortage of qualified Kurdish teachers in Arab provinces, but said inspection teams from the ministry’s Kurdish language department regularly monitor schools.

“The ministry treats Kurdish seriously and evaluates students based on their level,” he said, denying that Kurdish is treated as a supplemental subject like art or physical education.

Meanwhile, officials in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) say they are not responsible for enforcing Kurdish curriculum standards outside the Region. “The teaching of Kurdish in Arabic schools is a federal matter,” said Saman Soaily, a spokesperson for the KRG Ministry of Education. “While there is coordination between the two ministries, implementation depends on Baghdad.”

A Legal and Political Void

For lawmakers, the failure to institutionalize Kurdish in the national curriculum stems from a lack of legislative backing. “There is no law requiring the enforcement of Kurdish language rights in education,” said MP Zlikha Elias, a member of Parliament’s Education Committee.

A former school principal, Elias recalled having to rely on administrative staff — or even school clerks — to cover Kurdish lessons due to the absence of trained educators. “In many areas, one Kurdish teacher is assigned to three schools,” she said.

Without a legal framework or clear accountability, Kurdish instruction has been reduced to improvisation, undermining the spirit of Iraq’s post-2003 constitutional reforms.

“This sends a dangerous message to students — that the language of millions of Iraqis can be ignored without consequence,” Elias warned.

Some parents are turning to private schools that offer Kurdish instruction alongside English and French, seeing them as the only way to preserve cultural and linguistic inclusion in their children’s education.

Written and edited by Shafaq News staff.