Turkish imam hatip schools promote science: Foundation

By Elif Selin Calik Muhasilovic

ISTANBUL (AA) - After flying to the Big Apple for an international robotics contest, a team of girls from a religious high school in Turkey is coming in for high praise.

The team -- students at a science-intensive religious imam hatip high school -- is to take part in the FIRST Robotics Competition on March 24-27 in New York City.

"We’ve started to see the fruits of our efforts in science and technology in the imam hatip schools," Faik Tanrikulu, head of foreign affairs at the ONDER Foundation for imam hatip students and alumni, told Anadolu Agency.

Tanrikulu added that the team, called Techtolia -- punning on Anatolia, the Turkish heartland -- is the only Turkish team taking part in the competition and will represent the country in the "best way."

"The Onder Foundation gives high priority to science and technology as we have a scientific heritage built by Al Jazari, Mariam al-Asturlabi, and in modern times, Aziz Sancar," the 2015 Nobel chemistry laureate, he said, underlining the group’s efforts to promote science education.

Tanrikulu described past achievements of the foundation, with a similar group participating in a competition in China in 2018 that became finalists in several fields including intelligent robotics and laser cutting, and got awards in application, presentation, and teamwork.

- Foreign language and science-intensive schools

Tanrikulu explained that imam hatip schools admit academically successful students interested science, intensively focusing on the sciences as well as foreign language studies.

He noted that the students go through one year of language preparation classes, ensuring that each became fluent in at least one foreign language (Russian, Spanish, German, Arabic, or English), besides their mother tongue.

- Imam hatip schools abroad

Imam hatip schools have also been established abroad to provide education for the children of Turkish expatriates.

"From Albania to Tanzania, there are 54 imam hatip schools abroad. Both in Islamic countries as well as others where Muslims live, there are schools which employ the imam-hatip model as formulated by civil society groups," he explained, adding that their instructional programs and educational materials are provided by Turkey.