It is reported that the “Persian language proficiency” test, recently introduced by Iran’s Ministry of Education, has started to be implemented in various regions of Iranian Azerbaijan.
Social activists in regions where Turks live report that children who fail the Persian language proficiency test are not admitted to school.
Prominent Turkish activist İbrahim Savalan shared information on social media about a child in Ardabil province who was not admitted to school due to the Persian language proficiency test.
"Today, on July 20, a man from the villages of Meshginshahr came to the city’s education department, pleading with a bitter expression for his child’s registration. The issue is that his child could not answer the questions in the Persian language proficiency test. The school principal refused to register the child and instead gave a letter to send the child to a school for disabled children," Savalan wrote on his Facebook page.
Savalan wrote that the head of the Meshginshahr Education Department, Riza Nurizadeh, responded indifferently to the rural father and told him that his child had to pass the Persian language proficiency test.
According to İbrahim Savalan, in some schools, Turkish children are required to tell a Persian fairy tale in order to pass the Persian language proficiency test. If the child is unable to tell a fairy tale in Persian, the family is given a 15-day extension to work with the child and reapply.
Turkish activist Milad Balisini also reported that the test was implemented in the city of Shat in West Azerbaijan province.
"A friend of mine applied to register his child in the first grade at Shahid Rajai School in Shat on July 16. In addition to other health tests, they also conducted the Persian language proficiency test. They spoke with the child in Persian for 15 minutes to assess the child’s Persian language level," Balisini wrote.
In May of last year, Iran’s Ministry of Education announced that the "Persian language proficiency test" would be added to the regular health tests for preschool children. According to Deputy Minister of Primary Education Rizvan Hakimzadeh, in regions where preparations have been completed, even 4-year-old non-Persian children may be subjected to these tests.
In interviews with Voice of America, Turkish language rights defenders described the "Persian language proficiency test" as an initiative aimed at accelerating the assimilation policy and forcing families to speak Persian at home as well.