Syrian refugees’ students undergo Kurdish- Sorani courses in Erbil
ERBIL, KRI, Iraq (North Press) – Syrian students living in refugee camps in Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), are undergoing a course to learn Kurdish-Sorani dialect to integrate them into KRI’s schools.
The course is run by the Ministry of Education of the KRI and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) where teachers are voluntarily participating in.
Peshang Barhi, a Syrian mathematics teacher, takes part in the course.
Barhi told North Press: “This course is a preparation for the students before the new academic year. Curricula will change from Arabic to Kurdish-Sorani.”
Months ago, the United Nations held talks with the Ministry of Education of the KRI to integrate Syrian refugee students into the KRI schools that is; they will be taught Kurdish-Sorani instead of Arabic.
Sorani is the official language in the KRI. It differs from the Kurdish spoken by the Kurds of Syria and Turkey.
The course includes, according to supervisor Ra’ed Muhammad Ali, “Three subjects: Mathematics, Science and the Kurdish-Sorani language.” The three subjects are taught in Sorani.
Ali told North Press that “The course comes within the integration policy of the refugees that is changing the curricula from Arabic to Kurdish-Sorani.”
Ali noted to “a discontent by parents because their children started to learn in Arabic several years ago, but now they start studying Sorani.”