Cypriot education stuck in 'them and us' time wrap

By Esra Aygin

Bi-Communal Technical Committee on Education efforts to push forward with desperately needed changes in schools on both sides has been marred by lack of political will.

The committee, established by the Cypriot leaders in 2015, has not been able to touch history teaching and history books, which according to academics, should have been a priority if a culture of peaceful coexistence is to be cultivated.

It proved to be too politically sensitive particularly on the Greek Cypriot side and the committee was told not to touch history from day one.

“There is an argument that you shouldn’t do anything in relation with history before a solution. Only after,” says associate Professor Charis Psaltis at the University of Cyprus.

“However, now the two leaders are facing the limits of the historical narratives their communities adhere to. If the historical narratives were otherwise, they would have more flexibility to make more concessions.”

The committee has managed to get the political go-ahead for a project it devised to bring together Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot primary and secondary school students at the buffer zone during school hours to jointly receive anti-racism education and education for a culture of peace.

Children and teachers from schools across the island will participate in the project ‘Imagine’.

The pilot has recently begun with four schools on each side and the project will be fully launched in September with the start of the new school year.

The initial aim was to organise the get-togethers in turns at schools in the north and south.

However, visiting schools in the north was rejected due to political concerns over ‘indirect recognition’ of the Turkish Cypriot entity.

Establishing a framework of contact between teachers and students was one of the three goals of the committee.

The other two goals were to assess the current situation of the education system on both sides; and to look into what kind of policies could be promoted in a federal Cyprus with a view of peaceful co-existence, such as a common history teaching and Turkish and Greek language teaching.

Assessment of the current situation of the education systems should have been carried out by studying the curricula, books and teaching practices, the work has been– again through a political decision – limited to looking at the already existing academic research on curricula and textbooks.

The committee nevertheless, found a lot of problematic issues in both curricula, especially in relation with militarism, nationalism, racism, prejudices and discrimination.

“Instead of promoting contact, coexistence, reconciliation, trust, the education system reproduces master narratives and cements partition,” said Psaltis.

“There is this ‘We will never forget’ policy on both sides,” says Associate Professor Senel Raman Husnu at the Eastern Mediterranean University. “We need to be able to teach our history, but at the same time, enhance empathy and perspective.”

It is clear that the problems of the education system in Cyprus are well studied and diagnosed.

The only thing missing is the political will and courage to let the experts implement the solutions so that new generations are not poisoned against each other.

Changing the future requires changing education

By Esra Aygin

When French President Charles de Gaulle and German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer decided 54 years ago to change the course of history and turn their countries’ centuries-old rivalry into partnership, among the first issues they addressed were education, culture and youth.

Because these two leaders knew very rightly that France and Germany could not have a different future without changing the way they brought up their youth. The historic Elysee Treaty signed on January 22, 1963 by de Gaulle and Adenauer called for regular consultations between France and Germany on all important issues concerning defence, education and youth.

As a direct consequence of the Treaty, a Franco-German Youth Office was established to organise exchange programmes and intercultural encounters between French and German youth and courses in each others’ language to strengthen their mutual understanding.

De Gaulle and Adenauer took this step amidst heavy criticism when many people in France and Germany had still not come to terms with the wars and millions of lives lost, and could not imagine their countries working together.

With their vision and courage, they not only achieved the unimaginable Franco-German reconciliation, but laid the foundations of European integration.

On the Treaty’s 50th anniversary in 2013, the then-French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle jointly stated that: “Young people are the key to our common future. Our mission is still to teach both countries’ young people the advantages and importance of getting to know their neighbour.”

How is it possible then, that in Cyprus – with a population of just over 1 million and a history much less bloody than that of France and Germany – we are still raising generations of Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriots, who don’t know each other, who don’t acknowledge each others’ pains and sufferings, and who don’t speak each others’ language?

How can we expect these youth, systematically subjected to an education that breeds nationalism, hatred and enmity; and reproduces official narratives of violence, communal trauma and suffering caused by “the other”, while conveniently disregarding the suffering and pain of “the other”, to sustain a settlement reached on the table?

There are many official explanations as to why education cannot be reformed, due to high resistance by the right-wing, the church or the media; and why there cannot be any cooperation or contact or exchanges between Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot schools, educators, or students due to the concern of ‘indirect recognition’ of the administration in the north; and why we have to raise our children with hatred and enmity instead of encouraging them to meet, communicate and interact with as many children as possible from “the other side”.There are many official explanations as to why education is a taboo that even the most pro-solution leaders Mustafa Akinci and Nicos Anastasiades have not been able to overcome.

I don’t buy any of them, and neither should you. If our leaderships really wanted positive peace in Cyprus and had the political will and audacity, the first thing on their agenda would have been education and youth. And how can we trust them to have the political will and audacity to transform a divided Cyprus into a united federal country, if they don’t have the political will and audacity to stop poisoning our children?

http://in-cyprus.com/cyprus-has-a-lot-to-learn-from-german-franco-reconciliation/

Article - The sickening propaganda tools and poisoning our children (Published in Greek in 24h on 22 June 2014)

The sickening propaganda tools and poisoning our children

I remember being physically sick for many days after we – a group of 7 year olds - were packed into a hot, unventilated bus to travel from Kyrenia to Nicosia to visit the ‘Museum of Barbarism.’ It was supposed to be a fun school trip. It left us scarred and shaken for many years to come.

This ‘museum,’ which used to be the house of a Turkish commander, became the scene of the brutal murder of his wife and three kids on 24 December 1963. Their bodies were found in the bathtub. There still are many unanswered questions surrounding the circumstances of their death and their killers. Nevertheless, the house - an invaluable ‘evidence of Greek Cypriot cruelty’ –has been kept as it was found on that night, a real crime scene, with blood stains and bits of human flesh. The rest of the rooms are filled with graphic images of burnt-down, mutilated, decomposed bodies of the ‘victims of Greek Cypriots.’

Have you ever watched a group of young children with diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, religions and different mother tongues interact? It is a beautiful thing to witness. The way they don’t question or even realise each others’ differences, the way they create their own common language, they way they accept and accommodate each others’ presence, and most importantly, the naturality with which they do all this…

Taking this innocence away from the children and instilling in their little minds that a certain group of humans is cruel, lesser, worse or secondary to others is one of the biggest offenses that can be committed against them. And, in our country this crime is systematically committed at public schools on both sides of the island. Both Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot children are systematically brainwashed and indoctrinated against the ‘other’ community. We should be ashamed of this crime. We should be ashamed for not raising our voices against the daily poisoning of our children against the children ‘of the other side.’ We should demand that radical changes are made to the education system and history curricula at public schools on both the north and the south, and ask for an education system that encourages and provides the opportunity for our children to meet with, communicate, and interact with as many children ‘from the other side’ as possible. We should demand this if we are sincere about giving the best we can to our children and about our desire for peace.