The following is the full text of the speech delivered on July 25, 2007 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with officials of the Education Ministry.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I hope that you dear friends are not tired because of the meeting that you held about the most important human issue of the country - that is to say, the educational system - and about one of the most basic and fundamental issue in the area of education which is "transformation".
"Transformation" is a word, but behind this word, there is a world of tasks. First, what are these tasks? Second, what is the purpose of carrying out these tasks? Third, how are they going to be carried out?
Answering these three questions requires a lifetime of work. We place all these things under the word "transformation". Well, the fact that you have thought about transformation and that you want to completely transform the educational system of the country is praiseworthy. You showed determination and courage by bringing up the issue of transformation. Sometimes, systems seem to be so permanent, well-established and unchangeable that one does not dare approach them with the purpose of change and transformation. Well, you showed courage and you spoke about transformation. You want to transform the educational system of the country. This itself is very important.
First of all, one of the issues which is clear to you, me and everyone who is interested in the issue of education but which should be repeated is that education is the most important task for a country. If a country wants to achieve material dignity, spiritual happiness, political power, scientific progress, material development and any goal whatsoever, it should work on education as a fundamental task. Why is that? It is because all these tasks require manpower and manpower is mainly shaped in the educational system.
If our educational system - which encompasses 12 years of the best period of one's life - functions properly, then the possibility that our youth, who are shaped and molded here, will be influenced by future events is reduced. If our youth are shaped properly, they will continue to preserve this shape until the end of their lives. Therefore, the educational system is the main center for building, cultivating and producing this main element. What is this main element? Human beings, competent individuals and manpower. So, when we look at issues related to human beings, there is no issue and no organization that is more important than the educational system. This is one issue which is very important.
Of course, all of us have said this. All of us know this. This is not a new idea and the officials of the country know it as well, but it has not been put into practice. When we want to develop the major plans of the country - such as specifying budgets, dividing financial resources and the like - we should not look at the educational system as a consumer. Instead, we should consider it to be a producer of the most important and basic element for the progress of the country.
What we give to the educational system - including money, various resources and opportunities and different kinds of support - is, in fact, a huge help to the accumulation of a great spiritual source of wealth. This source of wealth should gradually be used for the future of the country and the people. This issue should receive attention.
Another issue which should be taken into account is that the current educational system in our country is not based on our thoughts, philosophy and plans. This is a completely clear issue. This is an issue which is completely definite, but we do not pay attention to it. The day when a system by the name of the educational system was established in this country, it was not based on the philosophy which we pursue today. There were two great flaws. One was related to ideological and religious issues and the other was related to political and managerial issues.
The religious flaw was that the intention of those who initiated the new educational system in the country was not to make the people and youth religious. On the contrary, their intention was to make the people drift away from religious beliefs. Without a doubt, their intention was this. Of course, not all the initial devisers of the ministry of education in the country and not all those who formulated plans and prepared textbooks were irreligious.
This is not the case. There were a number of religious individuals among them, but the main plan was based on such a philosophy. It was a plan which showed itself in different ways on the issue of establishing the educational system, eliminating hijab and suppressing religious centers. That is to say, it was based on developing secular and even anti-religion thoughts. The educational system was established on the basis of such a thought.
As I said, not all the people who established it in the beginning were irreligious. A number of them were religious. And their piety can be seen in some corners of the old educational system and the old books. We saw some of these books when we were teenagers and we could see signs of this piety. But these books were based on anti-religion, secular, thoughts. They were based on opposition to religion. As time passed, this anti-religion aspect was strengthened until the end of the Pahlavi era.
The political and managerial flaw was related to the anti-nationalistic aspect of the old educational system despite the fact that the Pahlavi regime made nationalistic claims. That regime was really after nationalistic glory because it had no ideology and as result, they had no other option. When ideology and religion are sidelined, there is a need for a replacement. Like many other countries, this replacement was nationalism.
Therefore, they pursued nationalism, but the nationalism that they pursued did not mean preserving national identity in the real sense of the word. What was the reason for this failure? The reason was that their political dependence increased on a daily basis and it showed itself in the quality of the educational system, as it showed itself in establishing our legal, judiciary, governmental and public organizations. That is to say, the system was entirely based on westernization. This could be seen in the educational system as well.
Our educational system was a westernized and imitative system that was based on cherished beliefs and principles in Europe. Someone preferred the Belgian system, someone preferred the English system and someone else preferred the French system. All of these systems were European anyway. This was visible in our different governmental organizations and sectors. The educational system was established on the basis of this western system and it remained like this.
Now, the interesting point is that those people who established our old and traditional educational system were not satisfied with the forms and molds of the time. They constantly transformed the system and moved forward, but the imitators who succeeded them did not understand these developments and they preserved the traditional form.
This was the traditional educational system of our country. Of course, these were its main characteristics. We do not want to present a complete definition of the educational system of those days. These were its two great flaws: first, it was against religion- at least, it was not compatible with religious principles, religious ethics and religious education - and second, it was based on translation to a great extent and it was dependent and imitative. It did not originate from the real needs of the country and the people of Iran. This was the main flaw of our educational system which lasted until the victory of the Islamic Revolution.
In the revolutionary era, many tasks have been carried out, but the educational system has not been transformed and it is the same as the old one. The flaws that you old and experienced teachers and veteran and well-informed managers of the educational system speak about - you say that lessons are based on rote learning, that they do not help youth develop the power of innovation, that they are based on compact and heavy work and the like - originate from the old system that has prevailed since then. As we said before, it is an old, rigid, dusty and inflexible system and it has prevailed in our educational system.
Of course, many tasks have been carried out which are related to surface issues. For example, in the past, books did not start with "In the Name of Allah". Now, they do so. In the past, they did not contain Quranic ayahs, but in the present time, they do contain Quranic ayahs. Good tasks have been carried out and I do not want to deny these good tasks at all. When I take a look at textbooks, I see that Islamic and nationalistic principles - depending on the different tastes of different managers during the past 28 years - have been included in them. In every era, a certain task has been carried out in the area of textbooks.
The task that was referred to in this meeting - introducing scientific and scholarly personalities in textbooks - was presented to me. I saw that it is a very good task. After all, it is necessary for our youth to know about the scientists, scholars and history of their country in textbooks. Our youth know such and such a football player in such and such a country much better than Ibn Sina and Mohammad ibn Zakariya Razi. Those who are interested in cinema know such and such a French or American actor much better than our great mathematicians and literary personalities. These personalities are being introduced in textbooks and this is very good.
We appreciate the value of these tasks. However, none of these tasks are transformation. Transformation is a deep-rooted task and you can carry it out. The people who are in charge of the important responsibilities of the country - such as the educational system and education in general - are motivated enough for this task. This task should be carried out.
You should see what we want. You should know what we want the product and output of the educational system to be. First, we should identity and formulate this. Then, we should see what important and fundamental tasks should be carried out in order to build an exemplary individual, man, woman and young person, and what essential lessons and educational plans should be formulated so that this individual can be built. After this, competent experts should define and devise a system for this. They should enter the arena with courage and they should define the role and responsibilities of the educational system on the basis of this system. This is a genuine and fundamental transformation.
We want those people who graduate from the educational system to be individuals with outstanding moral and intellectual qualities after the passage of 13 years - with the inclusion of the preschool, it becomes 13 years. Moreover, we want them to be pious individuals. We want such individuals.
In moral areas, we want an individual who is courageous, well-behaved, well-intentioned, optimistic, hopeful, ambitious, positive in making judgments and other moral characteristics that you have in mind for a perfect individual. In intellectual areas, we want an individual who is creative, inquisitive, interested in thinking and innovation, willing to enter vast and unknown arenas for the sake of acquiring knowledge and casting the light of knowledge on the land of the unknown, and finally productive in the area of thinking. In behavioral areas, we want an individual who is punctual and who respects the law. We want such an individual.
Can this individual be built? Of course, it is possible. Although it is true that individuals are not identical and although it is true that different genes and other biological factors create individuals with different characteristics, all of them can assume roles. As a poet said, "I am a tabula rasa and I am ready for the powerful hands of painters to draw me".
It is your artistic hands that draw this tabula rasa and that mold and shape this individual. Of course, any molded and shaped material can be changed later on with a file - for example, it can rub its sides - and it can be crushed with, say, a hammer. We do not deny these things and we do not say that other factors are not influential at all, but these things happen very rarely. The general shape and mold is what has been done in the educational system.
Therefore, it is possible to build such individuals in moral, behavioral, intellectual and psychological areas. Who will build these individuals? Mainly, this is the responsibility of the educational system. Of course, the IRIB is also an influential factor. The same is true of families. Different other factors are influential as well. However, they play a less significant role. I believe that a good educational system can overshadow the IRIB.
Today, we can ask the IRIB to organize a program for the officials in charge of the educational system so that they can present their plans. However, a good, transformed and a hundred percent ideal educational system can play another role. We are after this.
The educational system can influence families as well. Therefore, the most important and influential factor in this regard is the educational system. It has the capability to build such individuals.
This becomes the philosophy of the educational system. Of course, as was pointed out, expert and well-informed individuals should develop this. It should become clear that we want to learn, teach and build and it should become clear what the purpose is. This is the philosophy of the educational system. They should plan and develop this.
On the basis of this philosophy, the ideal educational system will be built. Like a chart, this system should be filled with different plans. Of course, its important and fundamental part is implementation and implementation requires talented and competent individuals. We should train these individuals as well.
These are tasks that will not be carried out in one, two years' time. You should make efforts so that this task will be done in 15 years' time. Fifteen years is a long time, but it is not long for this task and it is worth it. You should formulate rules and regulations and you should prepare the ground for this. As foreigners say, you should lay the "foundation" for this task. You should prepare the ground so that others come and complete the structure. If this is done, the educational system will get rid of routines. This is the way to get rid of routines. Of course, you should not remain idle until that day arrives. The tasks that the honorable Minister referred to are very good tasks. I had seen his report before.
Paying attention to technical and vocational schools, attending to boarding schools and those centers which train teachers, and working on underprivileged areas are very good tasks. These are necessary tasks that should be carried out. However, none of these tasks are transformation. The transformation that we have in mind is something deeper and more fundamental and it should be achieved.
Of course, the Council of Cultural Revolution has an important responsibility in this regard. The same is true of the Council of the Educational System. All intellectual and competent forces of the country should join hands and by Allah's favor, each of them should carry out this great task by playing their part.
We pray that God bestows success on you. One of the good tasks that was carried out by the current officials in the educational system was restoring the deputy in charge of moral education. This deputy had been completely or almost completely destroyed because of a lack of appreciation that some of your predecessors showed. It was restored by you. This is a very necessary and important deputy. You in different sectors of the country too should pay attention to this issue. You should pay sufficient attention to the issue of moral education, the deputy in charge of moral education and its affiliate organizations.
I hope that by Allah's favor, the holy heart of the Imam of the Age (a.s.) is pleased with you. I hope that the pure souls of martyrs and the immaculate soul of our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) are satisfied with you and that they pray for you. I hope that God will considerably improve your future compared to your circumstances in the present time and in the past.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy