With the arrival of Ahmadinejad’s government and the selection of Mahmoud Farshidi as the Minister of Education, the livelihood and economic demands of teachers were pushed aside and the needs and priorities of this ministry were determined by Farshidi and his accompanying group.

Farshidi and his deputies believed that “the majority of the current teachers have been trained according to the secularism school and educate students based on this school. The current education system is based on the principles of colonial secularism and has been designed to serve the interests of the arrogant powers.”

On the other hand, the existing realities in schools and the behavior of the main pillars of education and training showed that religious teachers and mentors have not been successful in fulfilling their mission of religious education.

Farshidi was from the spectrum of fundamentalists and was in charge of managing the Islamic Cultural Education Center. The combination of these factors led to the Ministry of Education considering the seminary as the main authority for “religious education” in schools, both implicitly and unofficially, and engaging in serious negotiations with this institution. While only a few months had passed since Mahmoud Farshidi’s presence in the Ministry of Education, the issue of 14,000 clergy entering this ministry was raised.

In 85, the collaboration between two institutions of education and upbringing and the seminary entered the implementation phase, and a headquarters was established for cooperation between the seminary and education and upbringing. The Amin Schools project, known as “pre-seminary schools” and “schools affiliated with the seminary”, gradually began implementation in 88.

However, Farshidi’s term as minister was short and he was removed from the government to make way for Ali Ahmadi. Ahmadi also tried to expand the relationship between education and the clergy by proposing to transfer four thousand schools to the seminary.

These events did not materialize during the ninth government and were somewhat ignored. With the start of the tenth government and the presence of Hamid Reza Haji Babayi in this ministry, the relationship between education and the seminary once again became one of the main concerns of the ministry.

The new minister also tried, like the ministers of the ninth government, to develop plans for the powerful presence of the seminary in educational and training issues.
In early June, the Deputy Minister of Education and Training went to Qom to negotiate with the seminary about changing the content of textbooks. Mohyeddin Mohammadian, the head of the Research and Planning Organization of the Ministry of Education, during a meeting in Qom with the head, deputies and senior managers of the Office of Islamic Propaganda of the seminary, discussed the content of textbooks.

After the effectiveness of the government of “Tadbir and Omid” and the selection of Dr. Fani as the Minister of Education, this issue remained silent for a while until recently, the General Directorate of Education in Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding with the management of the seminary of the brothers in Tehran province.

In a section of this agreement, it was stated: “Through an agreement between the Tehran Department of Education and the Tehran Seminary, government schools under the coverage of this plan will be converted to schools affiliated with the seminary. According to this document, the management of the seminary, through the establishment of a permanent clergy in these schools, will take charge of the educational management of the schools.”

In this document, the Tehran General Directorate of Education has made commitments to the seminary sector, some of which are as follows:

“Designating a specific location for the clergy as an office for providing counseling, answering questions, and communicating with families.”

“Announcement of the appointed clergy’s orders by the deputy to the regions and schools.”

3-9: “Support and provision of financial needs and necessary facilities in a special manner.”

“Establishing a foundation for the continuous use of religious school clergy and seminary professors in family gatherings, among students and teachers.”

Following the media coverage of this agreement, the Iranian Teachers’ Organization became the first teachers’ organization on January 2nd, 2014.

Statement.

This agreement was protested against and demanded to be cancelled.

The Iranian Teachers’ Organization, in 6 points, did not consider this agreement to be executable and listed more important needs alongside it.

At the end of this important statement, it was stated: “With their unique architecture and spiritual atmosphere, mosques are the best and most suitable places for transmitting and nurturing religious teachings.” With about 70,000 mosques and over 10,000 shrines, as well as Friday prayer centers, radio and television channels, etc., does the clergy need to directly enter schools? If there is a problem in religious education, is the solution to have the clergy present at all times and places? In our opinion, this problem has other solutions that need to be found…

Dear respected President, during the recent elections, you stated: I agree that every political and social system has its own ideological and political emphasis on education, but in our country, the political and ideological approach towards education is very intense.

The Iranian Teachers’ Organization, as a civil institution, expects officials of the Ministry of Education to pay attention to the needs assessment and feedback process before any action or activity, and to conduct necessary evaluations considering organizational barriers and limitations.

The Iranian Teachers’ Organization, while requesting the cancellation of this agreement, expects the responsible officials of the Ministry of Education to move towards the government’s plans of prudence and hope, and not to be the inheritors of the previous ministers’ incorrect and unprofessional actions…

After the pressure from the Iran Teachers’ Organization on their positions, the Tehran Department of Education, in a meeting with the central council members of this organization, expressed issues and points regarding this agreement.

In the regulations that have been approved regarding the implementation of this agreement between two institutions, the preservation of independence in the management of schools based on the laws and approved programs of the Supreme Council of Education and Training and the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education has been emphasized. The decision to amend or continue the implementation of this plan is subject to the evaluation results of the General Directorate of Education and Training.

In this program, schools can apply for the presence of a clergy member in the school by submitting a request for the “school clergy” to the school principal, and after approval by the school council, it will be sent to the relevant education and training management of the region. The applying school must also have suitable educational and training facilities and be able to allocate a workspace to the school clergy without creating any restrictions or converting existing educational and cultural spaces in the school.

In fact, from the perspective of education officials, Rouhani’s attendance at school is organized and disciplined, and clergy who are familiar with education and training can enter the school environment.

Furthermore, it is stated in this regulation that the “school clergy” is obligated to work under the supervision of the principal and in coordination with the school’s educational deputy during their presence in the school.

In this way, the organizational position of the clergy in schools is apparently determined according to this regulation; however, it seems that considering the situation of schools, this regulation may not be very implementable. Currently, many schools, especially in elementary level, lack laboratories, libraries, and even prayer rooms, and suffer from a shortage of educational and training spaces.

On the other hand, the foundation of this plan is based on the idea that those responsible for religious education have not been successful in their work, and this is ultimately the reason why designers have implemented the presence of “Hawza” in schools to revive religious education. Therefore, logically, these individuals cannot take on the role of organizational factors in schools or even as the school principal in setting policies.

One of the important and positive points of this regulation is that the payment of the clergy’s fees is the responsibility of the seminary and does not create financial burden for education and training; the writer is not aware of the financial situation and credits of the seminary institution, but observations and news indicate that the seminary may not be able to cover its expenses.

The bottom line is that the current officials of education and training are accusing the previous officials of rushing to change the structure, and that they have caused a major shock to the education system without considering capacities, capacity building, and prioritizing needs, and without paying attention to the compatibility of “structure-content”. In fact, the previous officials could have prioritized other priorities in their planning and also considered “change management” according to the fundamental transformation document.

It seems that the implementation of the “Rouhani School” plan has also been carried out according to this document.

Now, we must ask the officials whether they have made the same mistake as the previous officials in the process of needs assessment and prioritization of needs…?