An increasing number of religious educational opportunities for women have emerged during the Turkish Republic, including mandatory public school classes on religion and ethics, Qurʾān courses, as well as advanced degrees in traditional Islamic fields and sociological studies of religion.

Optional religion classes in the fourth and fifth grades of primary school for girls (and boys) began in 1949. The same classes came into effect for the first two grades of middle school students in 1956. After the 1980 military coup, religious cultu…