Who Educates Who?

I can list my objections to modern education:

1) The term “education” is used incorrectly in terms of both its definition and its goals. The emphasis should be on “teaching” (ta’lim or maarif), which is the passing on of information. People, however, cannot be educated, but animals and individuals with mental disabilities can.

2) Modern education is the process of channeling man toward a certain target and using special and instructive techniques on him in order to create standard individuals who are citizens of the state.

3) The first big rift to occur between the state and the church prior to the French Revolution was about the nature, production and transfer of knowledge. After various developments, the state monopolized education and put a “free, secular and compulsory education” system in place. Since then, education has been divorced from the universe of “religion” in countries around the world, and the nation-states that sought to create a new human model for themselves asserted their full control over education.

4) The modern state exerts its control over human beings, who are reduced to “individuals,” and human communities, which are reduced to “societies,” thanks to education, law, economy and the media. The privatization of education does not necessarily imply its becoming more civilian in a real sense and in terms of freedoms. This is because bureaucratic decision-making authorities still have the final say over what should be taught to children in a carefully controlled curriculum, while families are supposed to simply express their ideas about what should be taught to their children. And this is shamelessly called democratization of education.

5) This leads us to a crucial question: Who has the parental authority over children until they reach puberty? Their parents or the state? Although parents are authorized to exert parental authority over their children in several areas, who actually shapes the official curriculum and instruction is a major indicator that can help us find the answer to the foregoing question. If families do not have a say over what their children should learn and, also, if their children are being schooled against their will, then we can say that they actually do not have parental authority over their children. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Every child is born in the natural way (as a Muslim). It is then his parents who turn him into a Jew, a Christian or a Zoroastrian.” From the Islamic perspective, the guardianship of a child belongs to his/her parents who may be exercising religions other than Islam. If the Prophet did not respect a parent’s rights he would not allow Christians, Jews or Zoroastrians to convert their children who are born Muslims into their own religions, but would choose to monopolize the education of all members of other religions.

6) In this context, families should raise objections to “pre-school or kindergarten” programs. Jesuit priest say, “Give your children to us until the age of 7 and they will remain Jesuits until the age of 70.” Thus, if you do not have any influence on the education given to your children in preschool, then you can be sure that you have already lost your children.

7) Global powers are increasingly meddling with the education system in the Muslim world. The US seeks to eliminate the traditional madrasa systems in Egypt, Mauritania, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Pakistan, etc., and exerts pressures on states and governments, and sometimes, bombs madrasas intentionally -- as in Pakistan. Turkey is one of the countries that is under American and Western influence.

8) The primary purpose of education in Turkey is to indoctrinate the public with the state’s central ideology. For this reason, the Education Ministry has the “national” epithet in its official designation in Turkey --”Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı”-- and the other ministry that has the same epithet is the Defense Ministry --”Milli Savunma Bakanlığı.” Professional attainment and preparing the child for life are secondary and tertiary goals. Thus, the education system almost exclusively focuses on training citizens who would be submissive as intended to the state. The system has essentially a military nature, modeled on military training. The use of uniforms in schools and the bits of information and perspectives scattered throughout for physical education, music, national security, religious courses and history of revolutions and other courses serve only to further this goal.

9) Children are sent to schools with heavy backpacks and are supposed to sing anthems and learn an ideologically-motivated curriculum. Even so, their homework is done by their parents at homes.

10) This education system must be radically revised and models should be developed that raise “good human beings.” It is now crystal clear that this mechanism will not throw out “good human beings.”

Today'szaman