Presidency of Religious Affairs appoints 922 ‘spiritual counsellors’ to state dorms

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New appointments have been made by the Presidency of Religious Affairs to the state dorms of Credit and Dormitories Institution (KYK) as part of its spiritual counselling program. The program first started in hospitals in six cities in 2015, then it has also entered into effect in student dorms.

As reported by Mustafa M. Bildircin from daily BirGün, while it is still debated whether the KYK dorms will reopen amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the Presidency of Religious Affairs has appointed 922 spiritual counsellors to work in dorms in the first semester this year.

922 people appointed

As part of a protocol signed by the Presidency of Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Youth and Sports, a total of 711 spiritual counsels were placed in the dormitories of the KYK in December 2019.

While religious officials receive an inservice training to qualify as spiritual counsellors and get extra payment when they start working, 922 spirituals counsellors and guides have now been appointed to work in the KYK dormitories in the first half of the 2020-2021 school year.

Amid a recent surge in the number of COVID-19 cases and fatalities in the country, it is still debated whether universities will give face-to-education and, thus, whether dorms will reopen or not.

On the other side, the reason for the recent appointment has been explained in following words: "...to make sure that the young grow up with knowledge, morality, wisdom, aesthetics, inner beauty and feelings of mercy and to contribute to the reproduction of the values that bring our nation together by passing them on from generation to generation..."

What is Spiritual Counselling Program?

It was in 2015 when the Spiritual Counselling Program was initiated in six pilot cities. It has then spread to several other cities on the stated ground that "the citizens were content with the program."

The students of Quran courses who attended the Spiritual Counselling Certificate Program of universities and received a one-month training have been appointed to hospitals. While the scope of the program has expanded in the meanwhile, spiritual counsellors have also started working in orphanages, old people's homes, prisons and KYK dorms. (SO/SD)