The Iranian minister of education, Ali Asghar Fani, since he took office, has said he is willing to allow all different ethnic groups in the country to study in their own languages.
In the past years, in the Kurdish towns of Bana, Saqiz, and Mariwan, Kurdish language and literature were planned to be on the curriculum, and the program was due to be implemented in other cities as well, but classes have commenced this year and there are none in the Kurdish language.
Head of the Sanandaj education directorate had announced that some Kurdish language studies would be included within classes on Persian language and literature, but this still has not been implemented in the schools.
In Urmia and Kirmanshah, some proposals submitted by teachers to the education directorates regarding studies in the Kurdish language have not been approved yet.
An activist from Saqiz told Rudaw, “Despite that this year there was a decision that at least some of the classes would be permitted to learn in the Kurdish language, no steps have been made to implement it and students’ study plans are like previous years.”
The Iranian minister of education has submitted a plan to the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, to permit students to study in their mother tongues. But Rouhani has not yet approved the project.
The education ministry has said they will implement the program once it is approved. But, according to education experts, even if the project receives approval, it is too late to be implemented this school year.
Although Article 15 of the Iranian Constitution allows Kurdish and other spoken languages in the country to be used as languages of study, it has been increasingly difficult to implement the article since the constitution was approved in a referendum in October 1979.
Rouhani announced as part of his election campaign in 2014 that his government would implement the article. Many believe the decision was made after 10,000 Kurds signed a petition urging the moderate president to fulfill his campaign promise.
Sceptics say similar attempts were made in 2005 when then-president Muhammad Khatami tried to support Kurdish studies at the university level without success. The courses were cancelled only days before the planned launch.
Kurdish children in Mariwan can learn to read and write in Kurdish through a cultural centre, offering classes outside of the standard education system.
Iran is home to an estimated 10 million Kurds who live predominantly in northwestern parts of the country.
Iran’s state TV and radio broadcast in Persian, the official language of the country, with some portions of programs dedicated to other languages, including Kurdish, Arabic and Turkish.
