Taher Shir Mohammadi - Deutsche Welle Persian - February 19, 2010
The United Nations has declared February 21 as International Mother Language Day. On this occasion, various ceremonies are held in Iran and other parts of the world. This year, the reception of this day by Iranians is said to be different from previous years.
Failure Due to Lack of Proficiency in Persian
Ahead of International Mother Language Day, warnings by many education experts about the "increase in failure rates" in ethnic regions have been confirmed.
According to a report by the Research Center of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran, nearly 5 million students have failed in the past six years. Experts confirm that the highest failure rates occur in the ethnic regions of the country.
Shirzad Abdollahi, an education expert, told the "Khabar Online" website: "Children in these areas experience a shocking confrontation with the Persian language, which they are not familiar with, and they cannot adapt."
He added that implementing Article 15 of the Constitution could significantly reduce the failure rates in ethnic regions.
"We Have Never Had Language Disputes in Iran"
Dr. Zia Sadr Al-Ashrafi, an Azerbaijani researcher, believes that the mother tongue is intertwined with every person's identity. Speaking to Deutsche Welle Persian, he emphasized: "We have never had language disputes in Iran to the extent of telling others they cannot read and write in their mother tongue."
He added: "This issue has especially created problems for children. Recently, the Minister of Education stated that 70% of bilingual children face issues, and the 'Islamic Republic's solution' to this is to make children forget their mother tongue from the first year of school to ensure equality."
Kindergartens Instead of Mother Tongue
Experts say first-grade students in ethnic regions are forced from the very first days to stop thinking in their mother tongue. This disrupts their mental connection with the world in which they were raised.
To address this and prevent academic failure in ethnic regions, the government has built a significant number of kindergartens in recent years. These facilities aim to teach children Persian instead of their mother tongue from a younger age.
Ban on Mother Tongue in First Grade
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education in ethnic regions has tried to address bilingual teachers' issues by organizing seminars. The ministry has instructed local teachers not to speak with students in their mother tongue. Critics argue that these efforts have so far been ineffective and lack expert guidance.
This approach has also caused dissatisfaction among parents. In one of the declarations collected before the start of the academic year in Iran, parents protested against these methods, writing: "It is unacceptable to prohibit teaching in the mother tongue of millions of students under the pretext of security sensitivities."
International Mother Language Day Celebrations in Canada
In conjunction with the United Nations' special events for International Mother Language Day, Iranians living abroad will also celebrate the occasion in cities like Toronto, Canada, and Berlin, Germany.
According to Ensafali Hedayat, a journalist, this year's celebrations for International Mother Language Day differ from previous years. He told Deutsche Welle: "This year, several events will take place in Toronto, some simultaneously and others on different days. The main demand of the organizers is respect for mother tongues and their recognition as official languages in Iran."
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| Ensafali Hedayat: The Right to Education in the Mother Tongue is a Fundamental Human Right |
This journalist, knowledgeable about ethnic issues in Iran, added: "In Iran, no movement—whether by the ruling government or the opposition—will succeed unless it considers the demands of ethnic groups and prioritizes them in the government’s programs."
Mother Language Day Ceremony in Berlin
Hafez Mihin, one of the organizers of the International Mother Language Day ceremony in Berlin, said in an interview with Deutsche Welle Persian: "This event is organized by the Azerbaijani Cultural Association in Berlin. Guests from Turkey, including folklorist, writer, and Azerbaijani literature specialist Seyfaddin Altayli, and political scientist Mukhtar Shams from Amsterdam, Netherlands, will participate in this ceremony."
Mihin stressed that the main purpose of celebrating International Mother Language Day is the freedom to teach in the mother tongue in Iran. He emphasized that this issue has become a public demand in Azerbaijan, moving beyond intellectual and elite circles to gain mass appeal.
UN Concerned About the Disappearance of Languages
In its annual "Human Development Report," the United Nations highlights the need for immediate and serious attention to the demands of ethnic, religious, and linguistic groups. It notes that these issues will affect international stability and human development in the 21st century.
The UN calls on governments to recognize the right of their country's ethnic groups to be educated in their mother tongue and to incorporate their languages into the educational system.
In many multilingual countries, learning languages occurs naturally and is seen as an advantage for the people living there. In these nations, cultures and languages are not considered threats but are valued as precious spiritual assets.
Editorial Team: Mostafa Malekan
The link to the original article in Farsi on Deutsche Welle Persian:
روز جهانی زبان مادری امسال فرق میکند