Keivandokht Ghahari - Deutsche Welle - February 21, 2007
February 21 is the International Mother Language Day. The organization Terre des Hommes (Land of Humans) has called on governments and citizens around the world to give more importance to teaching mother languages in schools.
Imagine you are a six-year-old child who has always spoken only Persian at home and in your neighborhood. On your first day of school and in the days that follow, you are spoken to in a language you do not understand at all. The school environment feels alien to you, and now, an unfamiliar language has been added to it. Your relationship with this new environment is difficult to establish, and fear begins to take root in your heart. This is the reality millions of children around the world face when they are deprived of learning in their mother tongue. In Iran, millions of people, whose mother tongue is not Persian but, for example, Arabic, Turkish, Turkmen, or Balochi, are forced to learn in Persian at school. They enter the classroom in shock because they cannot understand what the teacher is saying.
Nasser Baledi, a Baloch citizen, says: "I was in first grade when I entered a place called school, where they spoke Persian. It was very difficult for me to understand or grasp what the teacher was saying."
Hafez Mahin, an Azerbaijani citizen, says: "I think almost everyone who learns a different language at school at the age of 6 or 7 shares a common feeling. It is a strange feeling because something that has never been at home is suddenly there. In any case, when someone goes to school, they enter an unfamiliar environment. Moreover, the language used is incomprehensible. That's why a lot of pressure falls on the children."
Joma Bursh, a Turkmen citizen, says: "At first, I had no idea about school or language. I thought they would speak and write in my mother tongue there. But when I entered the class, the school principal, who was also a Turkmen, stopped speaking Turkmen and started speaking in Persian. I had no idea what he was talking about. He listed names one after another, and I had no idea what they were. In fact, he was calling the roll. When it was my turn, I didn’t raise my hand because I didn’t know that was the roll call. As a result, I, who was present in class, was marked absent."
The alienation and fear that arise in children often lead to a distaste for school and a tendency to avoid it. Parents, teachers, or school administrators, in an effort to bring back reluctant students, sometimes resort to violence:
Joma Bursh, a Turkmen citizen: "It was a huge pressure, and I actually protested to my parents because I didn’t want to go. I had no interest in school. It was a kind of torture for me to sit there every day and listen to things I didn’t understand. They forced me to continue with school by hitting me."
Nasser Baledi, a Baloch citizen: "As a 6–7-year-old child, I remember I would often run away from class. It became a habit for me. And usually, someone would follow me until I came back to class. I didn’t understand anything the teacher was saying. That’s why the teacher would sometimes beat me, even though I was only 6 or 7 years old."
Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality."
However, depriving children of learning in their mother tongue means obstructing their personal development. The child rights organization Terre des Hommes emphasizes in its press release for International Mother Language Day that "teaching in the mother tongue helps children develop their abilities to understand objects and the world around them."
Dr. Peter Strack, spokesperson for this organization, explains:
"In the projects we have, we see that children who learn their mother tongue at school are more successful in later stages of education and in other areas as well. This is because learning is connected to understanding, and understanding is possible when one is not confronted with things in isolation or confusion, but instead understands their relationships with each other, primarily in the context of their own culture, which is simpler. Every language has its own logic, and every word has its own meaning. Children are more familiar with words from their own language, which is why early education is more effective. This also affects the child's future life, especially when they need to learn new and unfamiliar topics in order to familiarize themselves with the world."
A child’s future is shaped from the primary school years. Iranians born into non-Persian-speaking families, who only learn Persian at school, know how difficult their lives, and those of many of their fellow speakers, can be. Only a small number of youth from Arab or Baloch families reach university, as competing in the university entrance exam, which is in Persian, is not easy. Not being fully proficient in Persian is a challenge not only in education but in other spheres as well. For example, these citizens often cannot properly defend themselves in court.
For those who have experienced this pressure, it is sometimes incomprehensible why Iranian politicians have denied children the right to learn in their mother tongue. Joma Bursh asks:
"Clearly, we were wronged and deprived of a great opportunity. I don’t know why the authorities implemented this. It didn’t benefit them, nor did it benefit us."
Dr. Peter Strack from Terre des Hommes responds:
"Behind the struggles with minorities, there is often an issue of creating a nation-state. Countries that are under the pressure of colonialists and foreign powers, in their attempts to be strong, apply internal pressure. They do not realize that diversity in their country is actually their greatest potential power, and that the different cultures in a country can mutually enrich each other. When diversity is viewed as a treasure, they can resist foreign powers that want to forcibly make them like themselves."
This story began during the time of Reza Shah Pahlavi in Iran and continues to this day.
The link to the original article in Farsi on Deutsche Welle Persian:
پيوند حق بشرى آموزش و پرورش با حق آموزش به زبان مادرى