Since their creation in the 1950s, Imam Hatips have been controversial in the debate about Turkey's secular state. Kenan Cayir, assistant professor of sociology at Istanbul's Bilgi University, says the schools can have a positive impact so that religion and modernity can be together. An objection to the free choice of Imam Hatip graduates came from TÜSIAD (Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association). According to their research conducted in 1988, approximately 32% of graduates of Imam Hatip schools picked faculties of law as their first choice in university entrance exams, proving more popular than religious based alternatives. The report concluded that, due to fundamental differences in their upbringing, Imam Hatip graduates were rendered unsuitable for public office. Politicians tended not to agree with TÜSIAD's position. For example, the then Minister of National Education, Avni Akyol, criticised the report in terms of human rights, claiming such proposals undermined the principle of equal opportunity in education.