On Tuesday October 25, 2016, representatives of the self proclaimed Kurdish authority in the Assyrian town of Derik (A.K.A Malikiyeh), North Eastern Syria, tried to oust the Kurdish pupils from the Dijleh Assyrian school. This was done in accordance with a recent decision that new Kurdish students would not be allowed to register in Assyrian schools in Gozarto any more. The students and their parents protested and filmed the turbulence raised. Then the Kurdish Asayish (Police) arrived and arrested four parents, two Kurds and two Assyrians, because they were filming what happened. After two days in custody, they were released today.

The Assyrian Dijleh school is hosted within the church of St. Mary and consists of 256 Assyrian (including some Armenian), 163 Kurdish and 10 Arab pupils.

The reason why Kurdish and Arab parents prefer Assyrian schools, is the higher quality of education. But the Assyrian school management agreed not to register any new Kurdish students in order to avoid the forced Kurdish curriculum. However some leading Kurds within the self proclaimed authority still register their children in Assyrian schools – double standards.