Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a Meeting with Teachers of Fars Province

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Teacher's Day and Teacher's Week have always been among the most meaningful and responsible days for me throughout the years.

This year, it has happened that we are in Shiraz for this meeting with the teachers, and we have the opportunity to meet with you, dear brothers and sisters, the teachers of Shiraz and Fars. This is a good event, and it must be said that your province and city have played the role of a teacher for others in many respects. It is hard to find a prominent scholar who has not benefited from the blessings of the scholars and teachers of Shiraz, whether in jurisprudence, philosophy, literature, poetry, art, or in various other fields and sciences.

Teacher's Day is your day, and in a sense, it is the day of the entire nation of Iran; because the teacher, apart from their personal identity, has a teaching identity that belongs to all those who can learn from them. The teacher has a collective identity. The value of the teacher is due to this teaching identity, and we must acknowledge that we have not worked enough on this issue and have practically succumbed to the culture and atmosphere that do not recognize any value for the teacher other than the material aspect of the issue — that is, the ability to convert the value of the lesson into money. This is the culture of material civilization; the criterion of valuation is the ability to convert anything into money. The teacher is respected only to the extent that they can generate money directly or indirectly in that culture. We, the cultural collective of the Iranian nation, have succumbed to this erroneous culture, while in the logic of Islam, the issue goes beyond these matters. The issue of education and upbringing is about giving life and birth to an audience and a human being. Islam looks at it this way. You should strive to cultivate a part of the land that seems dry and make a spring flow from there; you should plant a seed that seems very insignificant in fertile soil and water it, so that a lush sapling is born from it; this is the issue. Now, whether it can be converted into money or not. Islam looks at education and upbringing and the teacher with this perspective. Not that I want to neglect the material demands of teachers in our country, both in the present and in the past; no, that is not the discussion. There are expectations, there are demands, most of which are correct. There are also officials; we must say that the officials should respond.

This new honorable minister, whose statements you heard, is, as I have seen and understood, an active, diligent, and hardworking element, and we hope, God willing, that he will fulfill his duties in that regard as well. My point goes beyond this. The audience of this speech is not just you teachers; the audience of this speech is the nation of Iran; it is the collective of the people for whom you have opened the circle of education and upbringing so that they can enter this circle. Valuation for an action, an initiative, an identity is something that we believe is not recognized as it should be in the current era. In the past, yes. In the past, before the encroachments of Western culture in our country developed so much; that is, a thousand and one hundred years, two hundred years after Islam, when the conditions for knowledge, education, and teaching were provided in our country according to various times, the teacher had a high spiritual value. The method of education and upbringing in the realm of Islamic education was such that it was not seen that a student would stretch their leg in front of their teacher. We were like that too; our students behaved the same way when we taught. The teacher had a true respect and dignity in front of the student, which still remains a sign of it in our seminaries; because the seminaries have been less influenced by Western methods in the realm of culture. Therefore, those methods still exist in the seminaries, and the teacher enjoys a respect, a dignity, and a value in the eyes of the student. Their presence — a presence not born of fear, but born of greatness — is in the heart of the student. Now, this student may challenge in class. In our seminary classes, the extent to which a student challenges the teacher is not as common in our university classes. They do not even need to ask for permission, saying, "Teacher! May I?" No, the teacher is speaking, the professor is busy speaking, and from the other side, a student begins to challenge, and the teacher listens to their challenge. Sometimes they may be harsh; that is, the student speaks boldly and audaciously to the teacher on a scientific issue; however, this same student is humble and submissive in front of this teacher, kisses their hand, does not stretch their leg in front of them, and does not address them informally. For twelve hundred, three hundred years, we pursued the relationship between teacher and student in this way in our country, until Western culture and Western valuation entered our country. You see how many teachers have been beaten by students! How many teachers have been mocked in class by students! How many harsh words have been heard! How many teachers have been killed by students because they gave a low grade. We had this. Now, in our country, with that historical background, this problem has been weak. In some places, it is much more severe, more shameless, and more violent; those places are where Western cultural centers are.

My hope is that the valuation of the teacher will be the same as the Islamic valuation. Our society needs to respect the teacher and honor them. If the student truly respects the teacher in the real sense of the word, that student will also have the same feeling towards the teacher in class and after class. We need this. This is above all material privileges for you. Our great Imam was a sage. Imam was a sage in the Qur'anic sense. A sage is someone who observes truths that are overlooked by the eyes of others; they are hidden. His words may seem simple, but the more you delve into them, the more layers and depths you find. Imam was like this. And you look at the Qur'an, where wisdom is mentioned: "That is what your Lord has revealed to you of wisdom," see what these are. You see that, on the surface, they are ordinary recommendations. This is what we constantly say to each other; but the more you delve into it, the more profound it becomes. For example, respect for parents is one of the wisdoms. You cannot find an end for the respect for parents in terms of the benefits and blessings that respect for parents has. The more one contemplates this issue, the more they see that this issue is even deeper; this is wisdom. Imam, who was a sage, said: "Teaching is the profession of the prophets." This is a very significant statement.

There is a hadith from the Prophet Muhammad — besides the verses of the Qur'an that say: "He purifies them and teaches them the Book and wisdom," which is repeated several times in the Qur'an — that attributes teaching to the Prophet. That hadith is: "Indeed, God did not send me to be harsh or to make things difficult, but He sent me as an easy teacher"; God has sent me as a teacher who makes things easy. I make life easy for my students with my teachings and make things easy for them. This easiness is different from being lax; it means not complicating things. I am not harsh and do not make life difficult for people; rather, with my teachings, I guide people to the right path, the correct path, the paved road, the straight path. This easiness means this. Sometimes a person wants to achieve a goal but does not know the way. They face stones, dirt, and suffocating heights; they keep going up and down, and in the end, they either reach it or they do not; this is hardship. At another time, a familiar and knowledgeable person accompanies them, and that person says, "Sir! Go this way; the path is smooth, it is close, and it will definitely lead you to your goal." "An easy teacher" means this. This is our main point. I want to convey this to you, who are teachers, so that you recognize your dignity, your worth, and your place well, and also to the people. Of course, I want to say this more to the people; because the teacher usually knows their worth. An aware teacher, a teacher who truly possesses knowledge and imparts it to someone, understands what they are doing. They are a locked door, and they have a key. The teacher gives this key to the student and says, "Dear! You insert this key into this lock in this way." This is the work of teaching. This is an equation that cannot be solved at any price, and its solution is this. The teacher shows the solution. In every field, the teacher's job is this, so the teacher — now with different ranks — knows what they are doing, but the general public is my main audience. I want in our society for the status of education and upbringing to be the same as the status that Islam has established. This has been narrated that he said: "Whoever teaches me a letter has made me their servant" — of course, I do not know what the chain of this narration is and how sound it is, but the statement is correct — this is that by learning from someone, a person actually passes a stage that deserves to consider themselves a servant and a servant of that guide and mentor. This is the main point.

Another point exists here that also has a value aspect. I want to mention this — this is again addressed to you teachers — that according to Islam, just as the teacher has respect and should be honored, the student should also be honored; the student should be respected. One should not insult the student. This has a very profound educational aspect. Here, there is also a narration that has been narrated: "Be humble to those from whom you learn and be humble to those who learn from you"; be humble to the one from whom you learn, and be humble to the one who learns from you. "And do not be tyrants of the scholars." A tyrant is of two types: a political tyrant and a scholarly tyrant. Do not be scholarly tyrants; do not be like Pharaoh. I once saw such a teacher in one of the universities of the country, many years ago, perhaps forty or forty-five years ago, who spoke to and taught his students in such a way that his approach was tyrannical, not a fatherly approach. A teacher may be strict, but strictness is different from humiliation; it is different from insult. The student should be honored. Each of you certainly has many experiences of students whom you have honored, and this has yielded results; it has made their upbringing easier. Insulting, humiliating, or even hitting is not good — that "hitting for discipline" is among the professions that has been known and common since ancient times, but later it was shown that no, hitting is not good — I also believe the same. The student should be shaped like wax in the hands of the teacher; however, with gentleness. The art of teaching is this. This is another aspect of this value issue regarding the teacher.

The issues of education and upbringing are numerous. I have also spoken about various topics on this occasion of meeting teachers over the years, and sometimes in meetings with the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution and sometimes in meetings with the ministers of education, I have mentioned points that are not my personal preferences, and all of these have almost without exception a backing of expert work, and those who are involved in education and upbringing have confirmed them. We have demanded these. Now, fortunately, I saw that the minister in this report that he just gave mentioned that some of these works have either started or progressed or been acted upon; this is good, but we cannot be satisfied with this level; we need a profound effort in education and upbringing.

Last year, in this same meeting with teachers in Tehran, I raised the issue of profound transformation in education and upbringing. What does this profound transformation mean? I have said many times that we are not ashamed to learn from Westerners and non-Westerners and foreigners; we do not refuse. We do not feel ashamed to learn an administrative method, an educational method, a science, or an invention from other countries; we do not feel ashamed, we do not back down, and we pursue it; we are students. However, two points exist alongside this student role, which unfortunately were not observed during the cultural assimilation period — that is, the Pahlavi era, which was the era of cultural assimilation in our country. They closed their eyes and opened their arms; they took whatever was given to them. One of these two points is that we should evaluate what we take and see if it is useful for us or not. If it is one hundred percent useful for us, we accept it one hundred percent; if it is one hundred percent not useful and harmful, we reject it one hundred percent. If it is between these two, we accept it to the extent that it is useful and reject the rest. This is the first point.

I gave an example and said there is a difference between someone who sees a substance, a fruit, a food, a medicine, and wants to put it in their mouth with their own hand and swallow it, and the person whose hands and feet are held, and something is injected into their body with a syringe. These are different. The first type is correct; the second type is wrong. They should not inject us; we should choose. This is one point that was neglected. Whatever they brought, they acted like people who were numb and unconscious, and they either poured something into their bodies or poured it down their throats. We waited during the cultural assimilation period for them to pour it down our throats.

The second point is that this issue of "student, teacher" should not last forever. Yes, we are willing to be students in front of someone who knows what we do not know; however, one should not remain a student forever. We must become teachers ourselves. These two points were not considered.

One of the things we learned is the issue of education and upbringing. They had good educational methods, and we learned from them. The fact that elementary schools were better than the old schools; elementary school, high school, the classifications were good; we do not reject these; these are useful; but ultimately how much, what kind, with which approach, we did not pay attention to this anymore and took it all together. They said six classes should be like this, six classes should be like that, we brought that. Then, they changed their method, five classes and three classes and so on, we also learned this and brought it. Well, that cannot be. They had textbooks with various lessons; they said teach these, and we also took this dense teaching. The method of organizing education and upbringing, both in terms of form and content, is a purely imitative method. This is not correct. We must look and see what we need, where this method is defective. This method has defects, one of which is this memory-centered approach instead of a thought-centered approach. Our education and upbringing are memory-centered. Children must constantly memorize.

Let me tell you between the two crescents that memory is not bad for memorizing. The memorization of children, the reading of books by children, the reading of many books by children is not a problem; this is a good thing; because this information remains. Of course, some of it they may not understand. When we went to elementary school, there was an elementary school that had programs different from the conventional programs in education. There, they taught us Golestan. Some of the phrases and poems of Golestan I still remember from that time. At that time, when we read Golestan, we did not understand its meaning; gradually over time, we understood the meaning of those poems and sentences. This is good. A person may not understand some things correctly, but this memorization creates a basis for mental activity. Memorization is good; however, a memory-centered approach is bad, where the focus of effort is on memorization. The focus of effort should be on thought, even if it is accompanied by memorization. Well, this is a major flaw; this must be corrected.

If we do not correct it today, who will correct it? The era of cultural assimilation, the era of what the late Al Ahmad called Westernization, the era of astonishment in the face of the wonders of Western civilization has passed. Today, the shiny, transparent face adorned with thick makeup has revealed its ugliness, its lack of character, and its bad appearance to us and many people in the world; its ugliness has become clear. Today, we know many things that we did not know fifty years ago. The Iranian nation is now familiar with many of these truths.

We must correct this today. Who should correct it? The main responsible party is education and upbringing. Of course, let me say this; it is true that a committee has been formed in education and upbringing, and it is necessary for education and upbringing to commit to this work, but — the officials of education and upbringing! — the essence is the expertise of experts. Do not deprive yourselves of the experts who are in the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution or elsewhere; use them and deliver a well-considered, mature work to the Iranian nation and future generations, so that it remains as a lasting legacy. This is a point that I believe is very important.

Another issue is the training of teachers and educators in educational institutions, which is very important. Here, I also believe — fortunately today, the Ministry of Education has a good capacity for teacher training, which should be maximally utilized — that the academic capacities should also be used. Do not close the door to the outside; use all capacities.

Sometimes a person may not have a university degree, but they may be an expert in a certain field, in a certain job. We had a number of these literary and poetic figures in Mashhad who had no university education — in fact, some of them had lower education than university — but they were masters; they were experts in Naser Khosrow, Masood Saadi Salman, Saadi, Hafez, and Saeb, better than many professors who studied in the field of literature! The same applies to other fields of knowledge, and we should not deprive ourselves of these.

As I want to say from the other side, education and upbringing are responsible for delivering educated and capable individuals at all levels; it is a mistake to think that education and upbringing are necessarily a prerequisite for university; no. Some have connected their worldly and otherworldly lives to entering university. You have heard that a young person who has failed the entrance exam has, for example, brought disaster upon themselves, or has become depressed, or their parents have scolded them! No, sir! University is a path for scientific growth and a path for research growth; very well; this is necessary for the country. You know I am an advocate for the expansion and depth of knowledge and insist on this; but this does not mean that we do not want good sellers, good drivers, good merchants, good technicians. At all levels of the country, both men and women, it is not necessary for them to go to university; however, they need the education of upbringing. Therefore, education and upbringing are not just a prerequisite and a half measure for university; no. University is also very good; university is also necessary; but the scope of education and upbringing is much broader than that of university. Your endeavor should be to train individuals in education and upbringing who reach a necessary level of wisdom, knowledge, and information so that wherever a person is working, they possess this level of knowledge and wisdom. Now, some have the talent, some have the desire, they go to university; some do not, either because they do not have the desire or the talent, they do not go.

Of course, this is separate from the issue of maintaining justice. There, we must ensure that justice is preserved; that is, if someone has the desire, they also have the talent, but they do not have the material means, we must help them so that they can go. This is justice; that is, opportunities must be provided for everyone. Once, I asked a young person who had not continued their education, out of habit, I said: Why did you not continue your education and got involved in work? They gave a vague answer; the job they had was a good job — I insisted a little — with the same Mashhadi accent, they said: This job is in my blood. It is part of their being. I said very well, someone whose job is selling is in their blood, let them go do that job; what necessity is there for them to go to university? What insistence did I have that they must go to university? This is the correct view of the issue.

Another issue is the extracurricular activities that we mentioned. One of the best traditions established in this country after the revolution — the late martyr Bahonar, may God's mercy and pleasure be upon him, was the founder of this work — is this educational assistantship. They came and discontinued this for various reasons. Now, we do not want to look at this issue with suspicion, but in any case, it was a misjudgment. Under the pretext that upbringing should be done by diverse teachers in the classrooms and should not be separate, they discontinued this center that was specifically for educational activities. Yes, I also believe this. I also believe that you, the physics or mathematics or geometry or literature or social sciences teacher, can also be a teacher of religion and ethics and an educator of ethics in your students. Sometimes a mathematics teacher, while solving a mathematical problem, says a word that leaves a lasting impact on the heart of the student. All teachers should consider this their duty. And I tell you dear ones who are present here and all teachers — whatever you teach — do not neglect this issue that educating is also part of your work; and it is better to use the influence of teaching, the spiritual impact of the teacher on the student — from this opportunity — to leave a bright and radiant point in the heart of the student. A word from God, a word from the Prophet, a sentence about the Day of Judgment, a word about spirituality and the path to God and love for God, sometimes may come from you as a mathematics teacher or a literature teacher or a first or second-grade teacher that shapes the character of this child or this adolescent, this human being who is your audience, in a desirable way, which may have more effect than a hundred hours of talking in other forms. This is preserved in its own right; this is a duty, but it does not negate the fact that we should have a section in education and upbringing that is committed and responsible for the issue of upbringing; because we know that education without upbringing will not lead anywhere; education without upbringing will bring the same disaster upon human societies that today, after a hundred years, a hundred and fifty years, or more, Western societies are feeling. These are among those things whose effects do not appear in ten or twenty years; at one point, you open your eyes and see that a generation has been wasted, and nothing can be done about it. A generation can be disheartening. I have a lot of information in this regard and shocking statistics — now there is no time to say. Of course, sometimes I have mentioned it in some places — clear and decisive confessions. Do not think that this is a statement that we are sitting here and hitting from afar; no, it is their own words; it is a warning that they give to themselves. This has happened in the West, and this is the same blow that destroys the house from its very foundation. Knowledge without upbringing is like this. When knowledge advances in a society and there is no upbringing, now the atomic bomb is one thing, the various political impurities are another, the various lies are another, the economic selfishness of cartels and trusts is another; they have a separate story that also stems from this. The fundamental issue is the loss of the human generation. Therefore, the issue of educational matters is very important. Now, in the form of a strong and effective organization, not just in form.

One issue is the issue of literacy that we must finally resolve the problem of illiteracy in the country. First of all, it is seen that in some regions of the country, children of school age — children who must attend school — do not go to school, which is very dangerous; it is a very bad thing. Arrangements must be made so that completing elementary education becomes mandatory for everyone. Having a certificate of elementary education — at least — should be considered a necessary and obligatory thing like an identity card, like a driver's license; everyone must have this. This is a very important point that is often neglected, and this negligence sometimes leads to abuses in some areas of the country. Children must come into the channel of education and must complete this course here. After that, they can do whatever they want; however, this course must be made mandatory.

The entire education and literacy movement must sit down and determine a limit. Now, let’s assume, for example, individuals under the age of fifty, fifty-five, or sixty, they should determine a period, say for five years — absolutely everyone must become literate across the country. Now, those who are above these ages should be dealt with with less obligation and attention, but not that they are completely abandoned; however, the entire group of those under fifty or fifty-five years of age, both men and women, must definitely become literate, so that we no longer have illiterates in this sense in the country.

Well, we have presented most of the issues that were on our mind to you. And we believe that this current generation of our country, this generation that some experienced the revolution, some experienced the Sacred Defense, some felt the atmosphere of that era to some extent — we have not moved away from that atmosphere — this generation has endless capabilities. This generation can do many things. We still have the warm breath of Imam behind our actions. That strong will, that firm determination, that Godly and wise perspective on the issues of the country and society is still alive among us; in a sense, Imam is alive. The allegiance we made with Imam, with the revolution, with the Islamic Republic, we must uphold this allegiance. Those who break their allegiance with Imam, their allegiance with the revolution, their allegiance with the Islamic Republic harm themselves: "So whoever breaks his oath, he only breaks it to his own detriment, and whoever fulfills what he has promised to God, He will give him a great reward." We must preserve this allegiance. And by the blessing of this allegiance, the current generation — which fortunately our country is full of youth and youthful vitality — can accomplish many great tasks. One example of this is the issue of nuclear energy, which you see has drawn the world's attention to Iran. It is true that politicians and propagandists insult, but you should know that nations admire. Those politicians themselves secretly admire Iran. Various negotiations — whether in the nuclear agency or in some political circles — bring us reports that the Iranian nation is admired for its pursuit, for its eagerness for knowledge, for its insistence on preserving this scientific and national pride, and they are astonished. All the reports we have show this. This is one example.

If twenty years ago in this country someone said that one day Iranian youth would be able to create centrifuges themselves without having gone anywhere for training, and could enrich uranium and produce electricity from uranium, among a thousand people, one person would not believe it. The first ones to reject it were specialists and educated people. They said, "Sir! It cannot be done; is such a thing possible?! Is it a joke?!" The Iranian nation proved that it can. In all fields, it is like this. This one has emerged; it has bloomed in the world. In all fields, this nation has this talent; it also has this eagerness; it also has the audacity and courage to enter these arenas. ... Well, that is evident; may the curse be upon the denier. Many other things are also your undeniable rights.