The Future of Religious Education in State Schools in Türkiye: Debates and Opportunities

This article explores the current debates over religious education (RE) in state schools in Türkiye to better understand its future. The focus here is compulsory Religious Culture and Ethics Knowledge (RCEK) course in Turkish state schools. This is a qualitative, literature-based study, using official documents, existing studies and reports over the compulsory RE. After the initial analysis, three areas emerged as the most debated issues: the status of RE, its relationship with plurality, and its pedagogical approach. It seems that these issues have a potential to shape the future of RE in state schools in Türkiye. The article suggests that compulsory RE in state school does not seem to contradict basic human rights principles as long as it meets certain standards. Moreover, national policies and realities indicate that leaving RE out of state schools does not seem a viable option for Türkiye. Yet, the debates and local, national and international court cases show that the compulsory RE with its content and approach has failed to satisfy some segments of society in Türkiye. These issues therefore should be resolved if RE has a promising and less contentious future. The article suggests that when these issues are solved, the international human rights framework, RE scholarship and national policies should be taken into consideration to find a right balance. It might mean that for RE to continue as a compulsory school subject, it needs a substantial revision. When revising the compulsory RE a more pluralistic, objective and participative approach should be taken to eliminate the issues and problems raised in the debates and the court cases on RE.