Turkey continues on its road of reversing Kemalism and readopting Sharia. "Commission for education proposes mandatory Islamic values in Turkish schools," from Asia News, November 4 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

Ankara (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The values taught in Turkish schools should be based on "faith in God" and delivered using the terminology of Islam, said a committee of the Board of Education, creating concern among educators in the country. Several committees within the Council have announced proposals for reform that would affect the length of compulsory education, and the fact that classes are or are not mixed. Although the proposals must then be adopted by the General Council, many fear the tendency to impose an Islamic ideology on the national education system.

Among the various proposals under discussion is one to change the current system (eight years of uninterrupted primary education) into one divided into two parts, to allow younger students to attend religious vocational school (iman-hatin)....

The representatives of the teachers union have left the Council in protest because the time given to trade unions to submit their views was too short, and because they claim that the reforms will lead to a greater spread of the ideology and legitimisation of Islamic education. The unions also complain that the Council is dominated by representatives of the ruling party. "We left because the Council did not meet in a democratic, participatory and democratic manner," said one trade unionist. On the division between male and female he added: "The suggestion to create schools and classes divided according to sex are made by people close to the ruling party."

What a surprise.