Iran

The Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), a country located in the Middle East, covers an area of 1,648,00 square kilometers and is surrounded on the north by the former Soviet Union and the Caspian Sea, on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea, and on the west by Iraq and Turkey. The climate is arid and the terrain mountainous. Roughly 20 percent of its landmass is desert and infertile, 55 percent is natural pasture, and 8 percent is forest. Only the remaining 10 to 15 percent is arable.

The population as of July 2000 was estimated to be 65.6 million. More than half of the country's population (61 percent) is between 15 and 64 years old, and 34 percent is under 14 years of age, making Iran one of the youngest countries in the world. Recent figures show that this might be changing, however. The population's annual growth rate was estimated in 2000 at .83 percent, a significant decrease from the 3.6 percent that was estimated between 1976 and 1986—an economically disastrous burden believed to be caused by the absence of a family planning program during the height of the revolutionary period that overthrew the former ruler, the Shah of Iran.

Iran is commonly misperceived as an Arab country, but in truth, its Arab population comprises only 3 percent of its ethnic identity. The major ethnic groups are Persian (51 percent) and Azeri (24 percent). And, in fact, Arabic is only used in religious contexts and expressions, while Farsi (Persian) is spoken by 58 percent of the population. Other spoken languages include Turkic, Kurdish, Luri, Balochi, and Turkish. Of these, only Turkic is spoken by a significant portion of the population (26 percent). The official religion, in accordance with Article 12 of the Islamic constitution, is the Jafari Faith of the 12 Imams. About 99 percent of the population is Muslim, 89 percent of which belong to the Shi'a sect. Religious minorities in Iran include Christians, Jews, and followers of the ancient Persian faith, Zoroastrianism.

Iran is one of the Middle East's main reservoirs of oil, and in recent years numerous other industries have developed and expanded, but agriculture still employs roughly 33 percent of the workforce. Twenty-five percent of the population is involved in industry, while 42 percent work in other service positions. With a 1999 unemployment rate estimated at 25 percent, an inflation rate of 30 percent, and a real growth rate of 1 percent, the Iranian economy has suffered from continuous stagnation since the revolution. In 1996, approximately 53 percent of the population was living below the poverty line.

Historical Evolution: In 1979 the Islamic revolution ended Pahlavi rule and the ancient tradition of monarchical government from which it claimed authority. The Pahlavi's, a relatively short-lived dynasty in the history of Persian Civilization, seized power from the Qajars in 1925. That occurred 20 years after the Constitutional Revolution had limited their (the Qajars) authority and created in Iran a constitutional monarchy, recognizing the people as a source of legitimacy.

The tradition of absolute monarchical rule dates back to the sixth century B.C. and the Achaemenid Empire, a successful regime that made the subsequent Persian empire not only one of the most powerful of the ancient world, but also the most progressive. Its contributions to art, literature, science, and law make it one of the seedbeds of civilization. The Islamic foundations of Iranian government were not introduced until the Islamic conquest of the seventh century, which had a profound impact on Iranian culture in general by introducing a new language, social, and legal system. In the ninth century, the Islamic Empire broke up and Farsi again replaced Arabic as the spoken language in a reconstituted Iran; however, by that time, Islam had taken hold. The Safavid dynasty (1501-1732) made Shi'a Islam the state religion, institutionalizing its preeminence and creating a presence in Iranian government and education that would not be seriously challenged by its rulers for hundreds of years. Under the Qajar dynasty, though, the traditional Islam-based approach to education began to show its inadequacy, as Iranian intellectuals increasingly stressed the need for the inclusion of Western educational mechanisms and a national educational system; this was seen as a response to European power. However, very few intellectuals went so far as to advocate a separation of education from religion. In fact, a contributing factor to the demise of the Qajar dynasty was its perceived lack of religious authority. Another important factor was its weakness in the face of European power.

Despite European influence on the Qajar's by both Britain and Russia—at one point those two had divided Iran into spheres of influence—Iran was never colonized or fully controlled by any European authority and has traditionally maintained a fierce independence from western society. The westernization of education was seen as a means of empowering the country to fight western dominance—a paradox that plagued many reformists of the period. When the Constitutional Revolution took place in 1905, the intellectuals who inspired it focused on developing primary education and pushed through the Supplementary Constitutional Law of 1907. The law guaranteed the freedom of "acquisition . . . and instruction in all sciences, arts and crafts" and established The Ministry of Sciences and Arts to govern all educational institutions. In 1910 the Ministry of Education was established. This was the first real attempt to nationalize the educational system. The constitution also mandated the inclusion of Islamic studies in school curriculums and gave the Ministry of Education the power to exclude any textbook seen to be in conflict with the tenets of Islam.

The rise to power of Reza Shah Pahlavi reflected the failure of the constitutional experiment to live up to the challenges of western power, as was made painfully evident during World War I. The influence of the Pahlavi's on education was profound, for it was under their leader-ship that the basic educational structure and system was developed and westernized. As of 2000, the education structure in Iran continued to reflect the French system, which was selected as a model under Pahlavi rule: primary, secondary, and higher education, with degrees at the university level, including bachelor's, master's, and doctoral. It was under the Pahlavis that the first university in Tehran was established as a coeducational institution in 1920, and after World War II other institutions of higher learning were established in Tabriz, Esfahan, Mashhad, Shiraz, and Ahvaz.

The Ministry of Education was further empowered and was given the responsibility of regulating all public and private schools. There was also an increase in students studying abroad, as the Shah Reza sought to bring western advancements to his country. Most notably, the educational system was secularized, with the emphasis on training Iranian youth to succeed in modern occupations—especially science and administration. In the eyes of many Iranians, especially the clergy and leftist political groups, westernization became an increasing trend in the development of education as Pahlavi Rule passed to Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. And in fact, the educational system was a high-profile example of how the regime supported modernization. Textbooks used at that time downplayed religious history and emphasized loyalty, modernity, and nationalism. Under the Pahlavi's, the vatan or mihan (motherland)—and a citizen's commitment to it—was the highest value, and the purpose of education was to train students to serve the needs of the motherland above any other authority, including religion.

The success of the Pahlavi regime in terms of education literacy and enrollment is difficult to judge because there are few reliable statistics available before 1940. It is known that although the Pahlavis were never able to fully realize a national educational system, they did make significant progress. In 1940, only 10 percent of all elementary-age children were enrolled in school, and less than 1 percent of youths between the ages of 12 and 20 were in secondary school. By 1978, these statistics had improved dramatically, as 75 percent of all elementary-age children were enrolled in primary schools, and nearly 50 percent of all teenagers were attending secondary schools. It is also known that although the Mohammed Reza Shah made significant attempts at improving literacy, the illiteracy rate in 1976 was still 63 percent.

The rise to power of the Iranian ulama—religious scholars—was a manifestation of public dissatisfaction with the Shah's attempt to modernize and westernize a nation that did not have a strong industrial infrastructure and was culturally and spiritually dependent on its Islamic traditions. When economic crises caused by a fluctuating oil market made class and wealth distinctions intolerable, the absence of meaningful spiritual and cultural leadership became intolerable as well. What the Islamic theory of political and spiritual leadership, the velayet-i-faqih, offered was a strong leadership that, in theory, placed the leader of the republic in a position to interpret and administer the will of God. What it did not provide, in terms of education, was a resolution to the conflict between modernizing the education system so that Iran could compete with western nations, and maintaining an identity as an Islamic nation. The new regime also had to face many cultural and economic challenges that effected educational practice and principle, including a major war with Iraq, a high rate of illiteracy, and a population explosion.