Conversation with Simin Rouzgar

Javad La’al Mohammadi, a member of the Iranian Teachers’ Association, spent the last months of his 5-year exile in the Binaloud region of Khorasan Razavi. This civil activist was the editor-in-chief of Tous newspaper in 1995 when he was arrested and continued his writing career as the editor-in-chief of Eterak weekly until the 1988 elections.

It is possible that Mohammad has written and authored many books as one of the activists in the cultural field, none of which have received publishing licenses. Parts of his books have been published as articles in various newspapers and publications. One of his most notable works is “Gaat”, which is the result of his research on Iran’s membership in the World Trade Organization. His latest work is a 4-volume book titled “The Literature of Politicians”, which compares and contrasts the Safavid era and the Iranian Islamic Revolution.

He recently traveled to the earthquake-stricken cities of Kermanshah province and wrote about the suffering and torture that is shaking the people. He narrates the painful situation of education, public health, complete shutdown of production and agriculture, and unemployment in the Kermanshah region, and believes that this region has been suffering from earthquakes for many years and the recent tremors have only revealed a small part of the injustices.

Mr. Leil Mohammad’s recent trip with the central members of the Coordinating Council of Cultural Associations across the country to earthquake-stricken areas was a motivation to have a peace dialogue with him.

Dear Mr. Laleh Mohammadi, based on your observations and information, approximately how many (or what percentage) of schools in Kermanshah province have been destroyed in the recent earthquake? Which cities or villages have the most destroyed schools?

Taleghani Elementary School, Sar-e Pol Zehab Bridge

I really don’t know what to say in this regard. But during the field visits that I had with the members of the Coordination Council of Teachers’ Guilds across the country and the gathered and confidential information, I am certain that the number of destroyed classes is more than 415 classes. The offices do not have accurate statistics and do not provide them. Each one tries to downplay the issue of the Kermanshah earthquake according to their position and status, and the statistics and reports sent have no correlation with the realities. This has made the situation chaotic and the work delayed. The Director General of Education has also been caught up in this chaos and spends his time in meetings with the Friday prayer leader, governor, and other officials, and the remaining time is spent on introducing and appointing; what is left of his time is dedicated to waiting for the officials who have been sitting behind his door for hours with a bouquet of flowers in their hands. He himself says that he works

The most destruction in schools is in the city of Sar-e Pol Zahab. Out of 35 educational spaces in the city, 20 units have been destroyed and except for three to four educational units that are active for three to four hours, the rest have been occupied by people who are not willing to vacate them. In fact, the education officials are also powerless in this matter and do not have the authority to evacuate these schools.

In three Baba Jani, 65% of educational spaces have been destroyed and out of 104 urban classrooms, approximately 87 are destroyed and unusable.

The right side roof of the three-story building of Sar-e-Pol Zahab Teacher Training Institute has deep cracks and is not suitable for reconstruction.

The situation in the cities of Dalahoo, Gilangharb, and Qasr-e Shirin is better and classes are more or less being held. However, what has exacerbated the problems is that some officials, who do not trust their own chairs with the arrival of the new director general, are seeking to deliberately sabotage the schools by closing them. A few days ago, the head of the Teachers’ Guild in Kermanshah waited for over 4 hours in school renovations to be told which area the sent containers of the guild should be placed in. The first days of January have passed and the small workers are still confused about the reopening of schools. Families do not allow their children to enter educational spaces and are concerned about aftershocks and lack of safety that threatens the lives of their children. 184 students have died, most of whom have been in the primary level. From the beginning to the end, all schools are 100% destroyed. According to officials, some

The high school classes of Fatemeh Zahra in Sar-e Pol Zahab have large and unusable cracks.

You see; these words are very simple, and it is more painful for officials to pass by these great calamities more easily.

Believe it or not, if this swollen gland appeared in one of the countries above us, their leader and president would be so ashamed that they would flee in embarrassment. But the system of the Islamic Republic does not create a farm for the people’s world or the afterlife.

Students in these schools, considering the current situation, do you think they will be deprived of education for how long? Essentially, has the process of rebuilding the destroyed schools begun?

Do not expect good news about the reconstruction of educational spaces in earthquake-stricken areas of Kermanshah anytime soon. I see no motivation for reconstruction. It seems that the government has put its hope in benefactors and the high spirits of the people.

It is true that people and organizations have set up containers in rural schools and teachers are busy teaching; but in the cities of Sarpol and Salas, there is no news of organized classes. Life is spent in tents, just like cultural colleagues. So far, in the entire earthquake-stricken region of Kermanshah, 1500 containers have been set up for people’s lives, all of which have been provided by the benefactors. Container construction workshops in the region receive money from benefactors and the government allocates each container between three and five million tomans to the people. You can read the report on the society page of Shargh newspaper.

Golchin High School, Islam Abad Gharb.

It’s good to know that until this moment that I am talking to you, the work of clearing educational spaces has not yet begun. Of course, why should we go the long way, with a quick calculation and based on the budget provided by the Reconstruction Organization, it takes at least two years to build each school if the budget is injected, and you yourself can read the detailed conversation from this summary.

What is the level of destruction in schools and do you know the reason? Were the destroyed schools rebuilt and safe?

As I mentioned, 415 classes have been completely destroyed. It is true that I do not support this system, but if my opposition is not taken into account, I must bitterly say that in the thirty-two years of this regime, the treatment of the education system has been barbaric and every government, in the name of expediency, has taken advantage of its own interests and set fire to the fields of knowledge and morality, burning down the barns of education. See, when there is no motivation for rebuilding the education system, what motivation is there for rebuilding educational spaces?

One of the classes at Hamzeh Azgoleh Salas Babajani School.

It seems that these individuals have come to take revenge from the education system and forgive the religious schools. They want to impose the slavery of students and teachers in this country. In this moment, take a look at the budget for the year 2018 and see the government’s neglect of education and positive attitude towards cultural and religious institutions. It has been years that the budget for securing schools is being wasted and no safety regulations are being followed in the reconstruction of educational spaces. School managers are busy with minor repairs and are not able to even protect the buildings from a simple rain. Unfortunately, their cries are not heard, even for free.

Do you have statistics on unsafe schools in the country? What risks can these schools pose?

An example of schools that can be used in the Zehab Bridge area, where people are not willing to evacuate and classes are not held in them.

In 1995, the head of the organization for renovation deemed approximately 47% of the country’s educational spaces unsafe and believed that decisive action needed to be taken in this regard. The average age of schools in the country is over 30 years. The recent earthquakes in Tehran sounded the alarm bells, but who knows for whom these alarms sounded. The officials in the capital did not even flinch and, in order to avoid empty promises, they held several heated meetings in front of cameras and that was it. It is a tragedy to say that over 1000 schools in just the city of Tehran have an age range of 40 to 90 years. In terms of useful life, we do not have more than 100 schools remaining in the country. The remaining schools are one-eighth of the world’s standards. Today, international standards define a 12-classroom educational space as approximately 16,000 square meters. However, in Iran, even in buildings that have recently been

To what extent do you think the government and the Ministry of Education are responsible for unsafe schools and their destruction in the event of unexpected incidents?

An example of schools that can be used in the Zehab Bridge area, where people are not willing to evacuate and no classes are held in them.

Just a few weeks ago, the deputy of urban development of the Ministry of Education referred to unsafe schools as time bombs. They themselves know what the situation is, but because they have politicized education, the ugliness and injustice of these behaviors have been overlooked and their hearts have been hurt. A few weeks ago, in an interview with BBC, I asked the Minister of Education to preserve his own dignity and the dignity of teachers and resign. He himself has spoken about the government’s indifference towards education and what is even more surprising is that he has written his words as an act of courage. I am amazed at how they define and interpret this moral blindness and have no remorse for the flesh and blood that remains and will remain under the rubble. The government and the Minister of Education are 100% responsible for these horrific events and the loss of innocent lives, but it is a shame that these individuals seem to be watching a movie and easily pass by these tragedies, not understanding the bitter moments worse than

What solutions can be proposed for this problem considering the existing realities?

The butterfly is a young girl who has not been able to study due to her father’s financial poverty and hardship. She is illiterate and deaf, enduring the hardships of life in the tent that is pitched on the ruins of her father’s house in Azgoleh.

I do not see any indication of a positive approach to improving education and training in the government, and if they have any remaining time, I feel that the best method is to require contractors to have building insurance.

It is not acceptable for a contractor to use the lowest quality materials and not be held accountable. The most obvious thing that is also recognized internationally is building insurance. Now that the government is not accountable, insurance companies should be responsible.

Thank you for the opportunity you have given us.