"Alternatives to violence: A comparison of the Muslims of the Southern Philippines and the Kurds of Turkey - II
1/31/2006 KurdishMedia.com - By Aland Mizell
Economic and Educational Development
Role of Education
Education can alleviate violence almost immediately if the conflict has arisen because of economic, social, or political disparity. Yet, one of the clearest indicators of disparity between the majority and the minority populations is the level of education. In both southeastern Turkey and in the Philippines the illiteracy rate is substantially higher, the quality of education is poorer, and the gender difference is greater. According to the Republic of Turkey’s Prime Ministry Southeastern Anatolia Project Regional Development Administration 2000, most Kurdish villages do not have a primary school. Where one exists, a single teacher is responsible for teaching in Turkish to five classes. The following chart shows the percentages of illiteracy in southeastern Turkey compared to the whole country and the rural to the urban areas. Approximately 80% of the 69,660,559 population are Turks and 20% are Kurds (World Factbook 2005). "
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