 |
| Javad Abbasi |
In an interview with Voice of America on the occasion of the school opening in Iran, civil activist and former teacher at schools in the West Azerbaijan province, Javad Abbasi, discusses the policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran in schools located in Azerbaijani cities, as well as the problems faced by Turkish and other non-Persian children who are deprived of education in their native language. He elaborates on the challenges they encounter in the Iranian education system and in their lives.
“Children are not only deprived of education in their native language, but they are also subjected to a completely negative assimilation process. This creates a conflict in their identity and can even lead them to escape from school or distance themselves from education,” adds the teacher who was dismissed from his post due to his national activities.
The former teacher states that, in addition to all textbooks being in Persian, the Iranian Ministry of Education's guidelines require teachers to speak with students only in Persian.
In the Islamic Republic of Iran, the term "bilingual students" is used for non-Persian children, and their issues are presented as the "problem of bilingualism in education" at seminars organized on the education system.
“They see it as a problem, but not in the way we do. The issue they are concerned about is why they haven’t been able to assimilate these children during this period. The state is trying to solve this problem by distancing children from their native languages,” says Javad Abbasi regarding Tehran's official policy.
“Seventy percent of the country's students are bilingual. Even after finishing the first grade, their native language does not turn into Persian... A student who faces failure in the first grade will never achieve success,” says Hamid Reza Haji-Babayi, who served as Iran's Minister of Education from 2009 to 2013, regarding non-Persian schoolchildren. His words were published by the country's official news agency ISNA.
The national activist states that he was dismissed from his teaching job due to his activities for the national and cultural rights of Azerbaijanis. He also mentions being repeatedly monitored by security forces, tried, and imprisoned for nearly 20 months.
“I wanted my students to write some of their homework in Turkish. Later, this issue was brought up as an accusation against me in court,” says the activist who currently lives in Virginia, USA.
According to Mr. Abbasi, “In Iranian Azerbaijani cities, as well as in other regions inhabited by Turks and other non-Persian ethnic groups, programs are organized to prepare preschool children for education in Persian. Non-Persian children are forcibly enrolled in these programs.”
“States must take the necessary measures to allow minority communities within their countries to learn their native language or receive education in their native language,” as stated in the declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 18, 1992.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Güneyli müəllim: İran qeyri-fars şagirdlərə qarşı assimilyasiya siyasəti yürüdür