1.   Although some parents send their children to religious academies because they want them to be educated as devout Muslims, others are swayed by academic considerations.

2.   Across the country, some states grant exemptions to religious academies or boarding homes, while others allow day care centers run by religious groups to operate without licenses.

3.   Friedman attended religious high school in Jerusalem and then drifted between religious academies before joining the army in the middle of last year.

4.   In addition, hundreds of religious academies function legally, and those pose a more complex challenge.

5.   Islamic critics of the government say many Turks want their children to have unrestricted access to religious academies.

6.   Instead, the government should be helping to expand the curriculum of the religious academies, he said.

7.   Military officers and other secularists believe that religious academies have become too influential in Turkey, producing Islamic militants rather than simple clergy members and religious scholars.

8.   The hundreds of religious academies that function legally pose a more complex challenge.

9.   The reform of religious academies has met strong resistance, and the schools continue to operate much as they always have.

10.   Under the new system, schoolchildren will have to spend eight years in public schools instead of five years before being eligible to enroll in religious academies.