The vast expansion of religious schools in Turkey — one of the hallmarks of the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) 16-year rule — has become another point of ideological polarization in a deeply divided society. The public imam hatip schools — which offer extensive Quranic studies — are growing into a dominant element in the education system. But popular objection to their expansion is also growing.

According to Education Ministry figures, some 627,000 students are currently enrolled in 1,605 imam hatip high schools across the country. The ministry’s investment plans envisage a continued expansion of the schools, but whether this means a growing demand is an open question. Ministry statistics might give an idea.

In the 2012-2013 school year, when the imam hatip schools were allowed into the middle-school level, Turkey had 708 imam hatip high schools with about 380,000 students. The number of schools has constantly grown since then, but the corresponding increase in students appears to have ceased in recent years. In the 2015-2016 school year, the number of students peaked at 677,205, with 1,149 imam hatip high schools open across the country. The following year, the number of schools rose to 1,452, but they had 645,318 students. In 2017-2018, imam hatip high schools increased further to 1,605, while the number of their students went down to 627,503, including open high schools. Overall, however, enrollment in imam hatip schools has grown sharply in a few years, representing a significant portion of the total high school populace, which numbered about 5.7 million last year.

According to Education Minister Ziya Selcuk, people have embraced imam hatip schools because “the state introduces truthfully the sources of Islam to students,” hence the increase in enrollment.