Feb 21, 2012
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Dr. Alireza Asgharzadeh, sociologist at York University in Toronto |
For nearly a century, Iran has enforced policies that suppress the education and use of non-Persian languages, denying millions of children the right to learn in their mother tongue. This ban traces back to Reza Shah’s regime in the 1920s and has continued through successive governments, including the Islamic Republic. Such a longstanding prohibition has inflicted profound cultural and social harm, alienating entire communities and contributing to widespread educational inequality. Examining the history of these policies alongside successful multilingual education models offers a pathway toward a more inclusive and equitable future for Iran’s diverse population.
Historical Suppression Under Multiple Regimes
Dr. Alireza Asgharzadeh, a sociologist at York University and advocate for Azerbaijani rights, highlights a continuous policy of linguistic erasure beginning with Reza Shah’s rise to power in 1925. According to Asgharzadeh:
“Since Reza Shah’s rise to power in 1925, Iranian governments have pursued an explicit and implicit policy to eliminate non-Persian languages. The same agenda continued under his son Mohammad Reza, and the Islamic Republic. Education ministries have literally been tasked with eradicating these languages.”
The Human Cost: Alienation and Social Harm
Experts warn that forbidding children from learning in their mother tongue inflicts profound cultural, psychological, and social damage. Dr. Asgharzadeh points to high dropout rates in Iranian Azerbaijan as a direct consequence of this policy:
“One of the main repercussions of the ban on mother-tongue education in Iran has been the sharp academic decline among Azerbaijani students. This is because the Iranian educational system operates on a coercive and dictatorial basis. From the very beginning of schooling, students are indoctrinated with the idea that their language is inferior and that Persian is their official language, which they must use. This kind of situation exists nowhere else in the world. Educational matters elsewhere are viewed through scientific theories, independent of political, cultural, or social considerations. But in Iran, because children are forced to forget their mother tongue and speak and study in a foreign language, the minimum consequence is school dropout. And when the number of illiterate people in a society rises, a host of other problems inevitably follow.”
This alienation undermines students’ self-esteem and academic success, leading to educational inequality and reinforcing societal marginalization of ethnic minorities.
Lessons from African Multilingual Education Models
In contrast to Iran’s restrictive policies, Dr. Asgharzadeh points to successful multilingual education frameworks in countries like Nigeria, South Africa, and Ghana. There, children receive primary education exclusively in their mother tongue, add English as a second language later, and learn a third local language in secondary school. He describes this as:
“A scientific, fair, and egalitarian approach.”
The suppression of non-Persian languages in Iran has not only violated the linguistic rights of millions but has also deepened social and educational inequalities across generations. As global examples demonstrate, embracing mother-tongue education is both a scientifically grounded and socially just approach. For Iran to build a more inclusive and equitable society, it must confront this historical injustice and take meaningful steps toward recognizing and supporting the linguistic and cultural diversity of its people.