The Education System of the Kurdistan Region and Social Justice

Abstract

The citizens' perception of social justice directly affects the consent and survival of a sociopolitical system. This article focuses on the education system in the Kurdistan Region and its relationship with social justice. Education systems in underdeveloped countries have played varying roles in the process of modernization. Some have successfully reduced social inequality, particularly in terms of class and gender, while others have reproduced it. This research aims to determine whether the education system in the Kurdistan Region has reduced or reproduced social inequality. We gathered the perspectives of Kurdistan universities graduates on social justice and the impact of the academic system on inequality. Overall, the findings suggest that, according to the interviewees, the education system in the Kurdistan Region, specifically the academic system, has not effectively reduced economic inequality. However, it has positively influenced graduates in terms of social and cultural capital. The reasons behind this perspective on social inequality include the income disparity between the public and private sectors, the reproduction of discrimination within the education system based on social backgrounds, and the perception of social justice as social equality influenced by Kurdistan's egalitarian and political culture.