By Taher Shir Mohammadi – Deutsche Welle Persian – 22 September 2010
According to official studies by the Ministry of Education, one in every 20 Iranian students fails to pass. The number of primary school failures in Iran has reached 710,000.
Academic underperformance is more prevalent in ethnic regions compared to other parts of Iran. Experts believe this phenomenon also contributes to "mental health problems" and "school dropout rates."
Can the Problem of Bilingual Students Be Solved by Teacher Training?
Experts in education identify the lack of mother tongue education in schools in ethnic regions as one of the main causes of poor academic performance. In addition to students, teachers in these areas also face challenges. To address these issues, the Ministry of Education has held special seminars for teachers working in bilingual classrooms in ethnic regions.
Emilia Nercissians, a professor at the University of Tehran and an expert in education and anthropology, told Deutsche Welle that the problems facing "bilingual" students remain unchanged this year. She argues that the current policies are merely recycled from previous years, meaning the core issues persist. Neither the budget allocation nor bilingual teacher training has been adequately resolved.
She emphasizes:
"Because the Ministry of Education receives limited funding, it cannot implement comprehensive bilingual programs nationwide. However, recognizing the significant challenges in this area, the ministry is equipping teachers with the knowledge needed to address some of the issues bilingual students face. Consequently, teachers entering bilingual environments are no longer completely unaware of the problems bilingual students might encounter. In Iran, the available budget is being directed towards training teachers to better work with bilingual students."
"Our Problem Is Something Else"
Dr. Abdolrahman Dieji, a Turkmen writer and director of the weekly Sahra, published in both Persian and Turkmen in northern Iran, offers a different perspective.
He asks:
"Is our problem that teachers must be trained to make learning Persian easier for students, or is the core issue the teaching of ethnic languages, which is explicitly stated in the country’s Constitution? I believe this issue needs to be clarified first."
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| Dr. Abdolrahman Dieji, a Turkmen academic |
Speaking to Deutsche Welle, Dieji said:
"Facilitating the learning of Persian is a matter for the Ministry of Education, and they will undoubtedly seek solutions. But as a Turkmen writer working in both Turkmen and Persian, I believe our main issue is the non-implementation of Articles 15 and 19 of the Constitution, which grant ethnic groups the right to education in their mother tongue in their regions."
Dieji believes that children starting school should ideally be educated in their mother tongue to better grasp concepts and lessons, rather than being forced to study in a language they have not spoken or are unfamiliar with. He argues that students would be more successful in this scenario.
He clarifies:
"This does not mean opposing Persian language education. The point is that education in the mother tongue is a fundamental right of children from ethnic communities. Alongside this, Persian, as the country’s official language, must also be taught. From a scientific perspective, bilingual education not only does not hinder students’ academic progress but can also enhance their intelligence and memory."
Armenian Bilingual Schools: A Model for Iran?
Emilia Nercissians, a professor at the University of Tehran with Armenian heritage, notes that Armenian schools are the only bilingual schools in Iran. Other ethnic or religious minorities, such as Kurds, Baloch, Turks, and Arabs, do not have access to similar facilities.
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| Dr. Emilia Nercissians |
When asked whether Armenian schools could serve as a model for mother tongue education for other ethnic groups, she responded:
"Armenian schools have their own issues and challenges, which also need to be reviewed. However, it should be part of every country’s policy to allow indigenous languages to develop. For instance, consider Shahrivar Week, which celebrates the renowned poet Shahriar."
She adds:
"I think his bilingualism is an interesting subject. Shahriar composed poetry in both Persian and Azeri. If we can create opportunities for the growth of other languages, we can see more bilingual poets contributing to Iranian literature. These languages should at least be taught at a level beyond home use by cultural associations and NGOs among ethnic communities."
Can Literary Associations Help Preserve Languages?
Over the past three decades, literary associations or cultural NGOs with the goal of teaching and promoting mother tongue education have not been established in Iran, according to ethnic experts.
Dr. Abdolrahman Dieji, from the Turkmen region of Iran, explained to Deutsche Welle:
"In the Turkmen Sahara region, I have not witnessed the establishment of any associations aimed at teaching the Turkmen language. In principle, NGOs without government financial support cannot implement such programs."
Dieji believes that while such associations might have a limited impact on teaching Turkmen widely, they could influence poets, writers, and individuals passionate about their ethnic language and literature. However, preserving mother tongue education as part of Iran’s literary and cultural heritage requires official government policy, trained specialists, and allocated budgets.
Conditions Exist for Mother Tongue Education
Dieji maintains that the potential for mother tongue education in ethnic regions of Iran exists. Using Iranian Turkmens as an example, he notes:
"Despite the lack of Turkmen language instruction, Turkmen poets and writers in Iran have continued to address the internal needs of their communities through published works in Turkmen, both before and after the revolution. If the government were to implement laws regarding ethnic language education, there would be sufficient academic and educational staff for teaching Turkmen in Iran."
Both Emilia Nercissians and Dr. Abdolrahman Dieji believe that ethnic language education could alleviate some of Iran's educational, cultural, and even economic challenges.
Education officials in Iran have announced that academic failures alone have cost the education system over 4 trillion tomans.
Editorial Board: Davood Khodabakhsh
The link to the original article in Farsi on Deutsche Welle Persian:
آغاز سال تحصیلی، امسال هم بدون زبان مادری