Abstract:

Civil society organizations are noted to be increasingly active in Turkey, in the world. These organizations that are positioned as an element of political pressure can influence government policies. It is noted that these increasing activities are not reflected in professional religious education. In this study, a educational institution, which has been the center of many discussions throughout the Republic and is not going to fall from the agenda with practices that constantly change in the history process, is viewed from the front of civil society organizations to the Imam Hatip high schools. The objective of civil society organizations is to demonstrate the corporate existence of the Imam Hatip high schools and their approaches to the status of professional high schools and the similarities and differences of these approaches by their own research. In this study, which is a quality multi-situation study, according to the data obtained from research reports of the civil society organizations selected with the maximum diversity sample, the approaches to professional religious education have been discussed in two main topics. These topics have been named “to exist in a secular country” and “to reflect on the status of professional high school.” The research results have found that the discussions in the research reports of civil society organizations are mainly focused on the relationship of the existence of this educational institution with the principle of secularity, the status as a professional high school opened to discussion, the emphasis on the fact that graduates are not oriented to higher religious teaching. The Tevhidi Tedrisat Law and the secularity principle are placed as an important foundation in questioning and defending the existence of the Imam Hatip High Schools.

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