Iran, Minority Education in

General Background

Iran is located south of Azerbaijan and Armenia and north of the Persian Gulf and covers 632,457 square miles. In July 2010, the CIA World Factbook estimated the population of Iran to be 66,429, 280. About half its population is Persian (51%), while a quarter is Azeri (24%), with smaller numbers of Gilaki and Mazandarani (8%), Kurd (7%), and Arab (3%), as well as Lur, Baloch, and Turkmen. More than half the population speaks Persian (Farsi) or Persian dialects (58%), although more than 40% speak other languages.

Even though only half of Iran's population is Persian, the only reference to ethnicity in the Constitution is Article 19: “All people of Iran, whatever the ethnic group or tribe to which they belong, enjoy equal rights; and color, race, language, and the like do not bestow any privilege.” But this is interpreted negatively because no reference to ethnicity is used in policy discussions. The 1979 political revolution transformed the state of Iran into a theocracy, with the state religion being Shia Islam, although there are some Sunni Muslims as well as followers of other religions in Iran. According to Article 13 of the Constitution, “Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian Iranians are the only recognized religious minorities who, within the limits of the law, are free to perform their religious rites and ceremonies and to act according to their own canon in matters of personal affairs and religious education.” Iranian policy does not pertain to certain minorities. For example, the Baha'í religion, not recognized in the Constitution, is subjected systematically to discrimination and exclusion from rights because members of this religion refuse to compromise their beliefs in the face of Islam.

The School System

The state school system was formally established with Iran's first constitution in 1905. Since the Islamic revolution in 1979, all educational material used in schools has been changed or updated to make sure there is no conflict with Islamic laws. The revolutionary government recognized that the long-term impact of the revolution depended on transforming the values of the school children. The old school system's values were to be fundamentally altered to conform with Shi'ite Muslim values within the Iranian national context. The schools are expected to assimilate young people into the Islamic national mainstream and to foster cultural homogenization. The educational system is highly centralized, and the educational programs of the schools are uniform and standardized.

State Minority Education Policies

Minority education policies focus on language of instruction, curriculum, textbooks, and teacher training.