190 University Professors Criticize Parliament's Opposition to Teaching Mother Languages in Schools

More than 190 professors from universities in Tabriz criticized the rejection of a proposal to teach local and ethnic languages in schools in a letter to Masoud Pezeshkian, President of the 14th government of the Islamic Republic. During a session on March 8, members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly rejected the proposal for teaching literature in local and ethnic languages in Iranian schools with 104 votes in favor, 130 against, and 5 abstentions. Prior to the vote, a government representative in the parliament had also opposed the proposal. The signatories of the letter to Masoud Pezeshkian pointed out that they voted for him based on his presidential campaign promises, including the teaching of mother languages, stating, "We are witnessing that the actions taken are in contradiction to these promises." They expressed surprise and regret over the parliament's rejection of the proposal, noting that this teaching plan does not guarantee the desired educational justice. They highlighted that in neighboring countries, multilingualism, including the teaching of Turkish in Iraq and Afghanistan, has been officially recognized, while in Iran, despite its cultural and civilizational history, there is opposition to teaching non-Persian ethnic and local languages. The letter called on Masoud Pezeshkian to urgently prepare and present a fair bill that guarantees the rights of all residents of this land to the Islamic Consultative Assembly (or any other legal solution) regarding educational justice among ethnic groups by teaching mother languages from kindergarten to university. Article 15 of the Islamic Republic's Constitution emphasizes that "documents and official texts must be in this language and script, but the use of local and ethnic languages in the press and media and teaching their literature in schools alongside Persian is free." Article 19 states: "The people of Iran, regardless of their ethnicity or tribe, have equal rights, and color, race, language, and similar factors will not cause any privilege." The signatories emphasized that teaching ethnic and local languages would lead to greater unity, empathy, and solidarity among the Iranian people and would also turn security threats into opportunities. Previously, the Coordinating Council of Teachers' Trade Unions of Iran and Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and head of the Human Rights Defenders Center, criticized the parliament's rejection of the proposal on March 9. The Azerbaijani Political Prisoners Defense Association in Iran (ADAP) also condemned the parliament's opposition to teaching local and ethnic literature in schools as "shameful." Furthermore, the human rights organization Hengaw reported that in 2024 (from December 11, 1402 to 1403), six Kurdish language teachers were arrested by the Islamic Republic's security agencies, and seven others were sentenced to a total of 20 years and 8 months of imprisonment and one year of suspended imprisonment. Hengaw noted that security agencies have complete control over major educational, cultural, and judicial policies and have never allowed the right to mother language education, even in its minimal sense, and have even created security files for those who voluntarily teach Kurdish, facilitating their arrest and heavy sentencing. The human rights organization Kurdpa also confirmed that seven individuals in the cities of Sanandaj, Boukan, Dehgolan, Piranshahr, and Razavi Khorasan are facing prison sentences, among them Mahmoud Niroomand, Azad Abbasi, and Haji Barzeh are currently in prison. Previously, the Iranian Writers' Association issued a statement on the occasion of "International Mother Language Day," condemning the violent and arbitrary arrests of Arab, Turk, Baluch, and Kurdish citizens in recent months, stating that the disregard and violation of the right to education in a language other than the official language signifies a blatant violation of the right to freedom of thought and expression and an obvious denial of cultural diversity in our unequal land.