The spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Education revealed that 3,500 clerics and seminary scholars have been incorporated into the teaching profession “post-exam” and “without any specified quota.”
Ali Farhadi, in an interview with the state news agency IRNA on January 22, stated, “Following the examination, it was determined that these individuals were accepted as teachers.”
Farhadi clarified the basis for allowing these individuals to participate in the teacher recruitment exam, citing Article 28 of the Charter of Teachers, which permits education and training to enlist “graduates of other universities, higher institutions, and seminaries” in “emergency situations.” However, he did not elaborate on the perceived “emergency” within the educational employment landscape.
The advisor to the Minister of Education in Ebrahim Raisi’s government, Hamid Nikzad, had previously announced on December 24, 2023, that “three thousand male and female seminary scholars were hired as teachers” through the recruitment exam. Nikzad suggested that this figure includes seminary scholars who contribute to education in a ‘spontaneous’ and ‘jihadi’ manner.
On the final day of December, the Coordinating Council of Trade Union Organizations of Iranian Cultivators criticized this move, deeming it a ‘reactionary’ step reminiscent of the ‘kuttab’ era.
In a statement shared on the council’s Telegram channel, the organization asserted that the purpose of this action is to “purge schools of specialized teaching staff,” replacing them with seminary scholars who “lack the minimum expertise in the field of children and teenagers’ education.”
The organization cautioned Iranian families about the potential consequences of the systematic presence of clerics in schools, highlighting the associated dangers for their children.
