Statements in Meeting with Teachers and Educators

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

Thanks be to God, Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen progeny, especially the remainder of God on earth.

Welcome, dear brothers and sisters, esteemed and honored gathering. I congratulate all of you present here - the esteemed officials of education, dear teachers, dear staff, the esteemed minister - and all teachers across the country on Teacher's Day or Teacher's Week.

This meeting is significant for various reasons in my humble opinion: one is that it concerns our most important civilizational issue, namely education and training; another is that Teacher's Day is fundamentally associated with martyrdom and sacrifice; and there are various other aspects that I will discuss in my speech. Our dear martyr, the late Mr. Motahhari (may God's mercy be upon him), was truly a compassionate teacher; he thought deeply, expressed well, and pursued his ideas diligently; it was not merely about making statements and fulfilling obligations. We witnessed how he compassionately pursued instilling his profound Islamic thoughts in the minds of the youth of that era - despite all the limitations that existed - and he was martyred in this path; this is significant; this martyrdom is the definitive signature of the Almighty God on the record of this dear martyr.

Well, the teaching profession is truly a noble and respected one; the reason is that for a country, for a civilization, for a nation, more important than all assets is human capital; that is, if you have money but do not have proper human capital, you will not achieve anything; like those wealthy countries you see where their money is spent, who it goes to; their wide pockets filled with wealth are very foolishly placed in the hands of those treacherous to humanity; well, what is the result of this? [Because] they have money, they do not have people; they have money, they do not have thinkers, they do not have human resources, their human capital is weak. If we have abundant underground resources, [but] do not have human resources, it is of no benefit. Our country was sitting on a sea of oil; [but] we neither knew about it nor were capable; what was the result? The result was that those who knew and were capable came and took control of our oil. They took our oil, built their civilization, started their factories, and during the war, they used this oil for their victory while giving us a little bit; this was the case during the Shah's time; [this] is the result of not investing in human resources. Well, you are now producing this human capital; see where the importance of your work lies! You are nurturing it, you are processing it. I am not one for flattery; what I have expressed over many years about the role of the teacher and the student or the teacher and education has arisen from this feeling; it arises from this belief that the teacher has such a role. In fact, you are the foundation-layers of a new civilization; because if there is no worthy human capital, no civilization will come into existence. You are the warriors in the battlefield against ignorance and illiteracy. Look! You bring a young person, a child, an adolescent from the realm of illiteracy and darkness to the realm of light and knowledge, with jihad; it is a hard task. You are, in fact, creating cultural identity. Identity creation is very important; creating identity for people in a society is very important; [people must] feel their identity. A person's identity is tied to their culture, to their knowledge, to their lifestyle. Civilization relies on culture; if a strong and rich culture does not exist, civilization in its common and prevalent sense will not come into being. What is culture? It is the collection of elements that constitute human thought and action; this is culture. Where does this come from? Culture, in turn, relies on thought, ideas, and worldview; [that is] the way humans perceive and the collective human understanding of the world, existence, creation, and such matters; this is the main foundation of culture and the main foundation of civilization.

My dear ones! Pay close attention; especially the esteemed and honorable officials present, pay attention. Here is where the importance of the 2030 document becomes clear. The essence of the matter and the core of the 2030 document, which has an important chapter related to education, is that the educational system must teach lifestyle and the philosophy of life based on Western foundations to children; this is the essence of the 2030 document. What does this mean? It means that you, a religious person who cares about your country, who cares about your future, are to create soldiers for the West in your classrooms. (2) The insistence and efforts on the 2030 document, both overtly and covertly, to reinforce it in the relations of countries, including our country, means this; because the instructions, recommendations, and main points in this document for education are that education must arrange the intellectual relations of students so that their philosophy of life, the basis of their life, their concept of existence, is according to Western thought. Just as I mentioned; you sit here and create soldiers for England, France, America, and the rest of these perfumed, tie-wearing savages; those who kill people without batting an eye, who assist murderers without batting an eye; they say, 'Why do you help the Saudis?' They say, 'We need their money'; they know what they are doing in Yemen, yet they assist them. These people sit there, and we train soldiers and supporters and subjects for them in Iran and in Asian and West Asian countries and Islamic countries; [this is] the 2030 document.

Well, one point that must be noted is that the cultural community - that is, teachers and cultural staff - has done great work over these forty years of the revolution, fruitful work. Pay close attention; some want to undermine education for various political reasons; this is unfair, this is contrary to reality. Of course, I know the shortcomings of the current education system; I see the gap between the current education system and the desired point, but I also know the gap between the existing education system and the deplorable state it had before the revolution. Education during the revolution - in these forty years of the revolution - has done great work. The same scientists who placed your country among the top five in the world in nanotechnology were educated in the education system; the same third and fourth generation of the revolution who have neither seen the Imam nor the era of sacred defense nor the renowned martyrs of the eight-year war, today stand firm and steadfast against the enemy, insisting on going to defend the shrine and they go to defend, one becomes a martyr, ten do not become martyrs and return. This motivation for jihad is not trivial; who raised these? The education system raised them; and that too in this world. [That] in the world of the internet, in the world of various moral corruptions, in the world of satellites, to raise such youth, this is a great art. Who organizes these jihad camps? Who goes to jihad camps? These youths go; they have been raised by the education system. All this great scientific work has been done in this country, all these manifestations and signs of true religiosity exist in society - which I have repeatedly said, today’s youth live with the Quran, with Du'a al-Nudbah, with Ramadan, with tears, with intercession, with pilgrimage to Karbala, and with these things - where were these words, when were they? We have so many student martyrs, several thousand student martyrs, how many teacher martyrs do we have, who raised these student martyrs? These same teachers, this same education system. Do not underestimate the education system of the revolution; they have done a lot of work in various periods.

Of course, there are shortcomings; I have said, there are many shortcomings, there are flaws, and we are trying, and with the grace of God and divine favor, we will also eliminate these shortcomings and flaws; that is, God willing, we will reach that point of education; that is, this nation will reach; 'we will reach', not that people like me and others who are insignificant [will bring it about]; that is, this nation, this collection, this system will bring its education to that appropriate level.

Well, see, the desired state we want is this: education must be able to train individuals who are knowledgeable, capable, wise, pious, God-conscious, chaste, efficient, innovative, brave, proactive, who are not afraid of the enemy, who are not afraid of threats, who do not fall into slumber and negligence; it must train such individuals. If this happens, this country will reach what I have wished for and said and promised, and God willing, it will happen; that is, we will reach a point in a few decades - I said that day up to fifty years, and now a few years have passed - for example, in fifty years [we will reach a point where] anyone in the world who wants to grasp the new frontiers of knowledge will have to learn Persian. Training such individuals, such youths, is the main foundation of a proud Iran tomorrow, the main foundation of a new Islamic civilization.

Well, let me give a few reminders; the first reminder is regarding the transformation document that the esteemed minister reported on, a written report has also reached us and we have seen it. My dear ones! The transformation document is a rail-laying; the transformation document can bring education to its desired destination; we must do something to make this happen. Well, they said we have issued it, which is correct, it has been issued, but issuing is not enough, issuing is the first step; we must do something to realize this document. Last year I said (3) act in such a way that the body of education reads this document, recognizes it, understands it, and comprehends what work is to be done in education; the document is a very good document; it requires follow-up, it requires work. The first thing that is necessary and the main need for this movement is a revolutionary spirit. God will not forgive those who, with their pens, with their words, try to weaken the revolutionary spirit among our people and our youth; God will not forgive these. This revolution was realized by the souls of the people of this country; it was this revolution that was able to free the country from the control and burden of a government that had come to power through foreigners and worked for foreigners. My dear ones; the Pahlavi government that was overthrown by the revolution had two kings: Reza and Mohammad Reza; Reza was brought to power by the British, and Mohammad Reza was brought to power by the British and Americans. Well, you see, what kind of relationship will a government that comes to power through foreign hands have with its own people, and what kind of relationship will it have with that foreign power? Reza Pahlavi - Reza Khan - was brought to power by the British, then during the beginning of the war, due to the uproar that Hitler was causing and such, [because] his nature was Hitlerian, he became somewhat inclined towards the Germans and developed a tendency towards them; an architect from Germany came, an engineer from Germany came; these angered the British; they themselves had brought him to power, they themselves [also] told him to go; and he left. Well, for a country, for a nation, what greater humiliation is there than to have someone at the head of the country who was brought to power by the British, and then when they did not like him and it went against their will, to say 'go'; he had to go! Very well, the British sent a message that you must go! If you are a man, if you are a human, if you have any pride in you, say I will not go; let them kill you; no, he got up and went to the house of Mohammad Ali Foroughi, who was a broker and agent of the British and was an intermediary, and said, 'Yes, I am ready to go'; they provided him with a car, he went to Isfahan and through various routes went to the sea and was put on a ship and taken away. For a nation, what greater shame is there? The revolution came and overthrew this government, the revolution came and freed the country from under the feet of these despicable, lowly, and oppressive individuals. The revolutionary spirit is the soul of this nation, it is the spirit of this nation. Then that pen which weakens this spirit among the people and creates doubt in the revolution, will God forgive this?

For the transformation of education, a revolutionary spirit is necessary. A revolutionary spirit means do not be afraid, do not be cautious, do not be conservative; when you discern, act, take action; move forward, do not be satisfied with stagnation; do not perform decorative tasks. Sometimes a person does something that has a decorative and ceremonial nature; these are poison; no, do the work seriously; this makes transformation practical, possible, and achievable. Of course, the meaning of my saying do not stop, go, move, take action, is not that if you receive scholarly criticism, do not listen; no; one of the revolutionary movements is to listen to scholarly criticism, appreciate it, and welcome the critic. This is the first point I mentioned.

The second point; in education, the Research and Educational Planning Organization is the heart of education; cherish this heart, give it importance, and preserve it; educational planning is very important. The educational materials produced in this center, in this organization, must conform to the guidelines of this transformation; this is a necessary task; of course, I have heard that they have started; I have received reports, they are doing this, but it must be done with speed and seriousness. Twelve years have been set as the time frame as I have been informed; no! Twelve years is not acceptable. Educational materials should not be aligned with the transformation document twelve years later? No! Today is the day when 'hours' play a role in the advancement of societies, hour! Twelve years? No! Set a short time frame; increase effort and seriousness.

Then these materials must raise the youth just as I mentioned. One of the things that must be taken into account in these materials is that the messages of the revolution and the teachings of the revolution must be included in these materials. The teachings of the revolution are not only in the religious knowledge book and such; in all materials, the teachings of the revolution, references to the revolution, and lessons of the revolution can be included on occasions. I have repeatedly said; sometimes a math teacher, a physics teacher, may say one word in class that has more impact on that student than an hour of my speech; this is how it is; the teachings of the revolution must be included; this is one topic. Therefore, take the issue of the Research and Educational Planning Organization seriously, give it importance, enrich it with knowledgeable, aware, thoughtful, religious, and revolutionary individuals.

One issue is the Teacher Training University and Shahid Rajaei University that the minister mentioned; yes, I am also aware that the quantities have increased; they should increase, it is still insufficient, the education system is still facing a massive retirement wave and must be compensated; both the quantities must be increased further, and the qualities must be improved, and the type of work done in this Teacher Training University and Shahid Rajaei University must lead to the religious and revolutionary training of teachers. Ensure that the school and class benefit from a teacher who is, in the true sense of the word, a teacher of religion, piety, and revolution. Do not accept pressure from here and there; I have heard that sometimes pressure is exerted from various power centers. Do not be pressured, adhere to the law, and act according to the law.

In this regard, the gifted schools are very important; nurturing talents is very important; gifted schools should not be weakened; strengthen them as much as you can, and the country's position in international Olympiads must be maintained. Of course, I have heard that we have declined in several fields; in mathematics, in physics, in computer science, in chemistry, our rankings have dropped. These must be compensated. One of the honors of the country is these Olympiad students who go and achieve high rankings in the world and return; do not let their rankings decline.

Another topic and another point is the issue of vitality and liveliness in the student environment. I have repeated this statement many times - for students, for all the youth of the country, for students - that their environment must be one of vitality. Many misunderstand this. They think when we say 'vitality', it means there must be noise and dancing and [such things]! Vitality is not this; vitality means the youth should be lively, not wilted; with sports, with educational and attractive extracurricular activities, with these things, not with the things I have heard are happening in some schools; of course, you must monitor these, follow them; that is, the direct responsibility lies with the education system itself. I have heard that some schools do not have a good situation in this regard; in the name of 'vitality' [they do things]. 'Vitality' means you should make this youth lively, hopeful, motivated, ready to work, full of energy to engage in work and study.

Sometimes academic pressures are against vitality; in some schools, they put so much academic pressure on these adolescents and youths that one sees they have wilted, they have become depressed. Now, of course, their intention is, God willing, good, but some say this is so that [the] educational institution gains a name in the entrance exam; [that is] they are not thinking about this youth, they are thinking about the educational institution to say we had this many successes in the entrance exam or we had a score below 100 and such; they put pressure on the youth and adolescents for their own name. I think you should sit down and think about these; all of these things require working, thinking, and then following up. This is also a point that is of great importance.

I raised the issue of the entrance exam. Think about the entrance exam as well. Of course, I do not make any comments, I mean I am really not an expert on this matter, but the experts in education should sit down and think and see whether now that our universities say: 'We have empty seats' - every year it is announced that university classes have empty seats - whether having this entrance exam, its existence, in this form, changing it [is better]. Ultimately, sit down and come up with a correct, deep, and practical solution, then take action to resolve this issue.

A very important issue is the issue of the educational assistant, which I have emphasized in this session in previous years. There was an unwritten policy - and sometimes written - to eliminate the educational assistant. Well, in recent years, thank God, some work has been done, the educational assistant still exists, but the extent to which it has been realized so far is not sufficient in my opinion. The educational assistant has shortcomings, both in administrative structure, in motivated and revolutionary human resources, and in financial resources; these should be pursued by the esteemed Minister Mr. Bat'hai so that the educational assistant is realized in the true sense of the word throughout education.

Let me mention two points and then I will present a general matter. One of those two points is regarding the livelihood of teachers, which was also mentioned in the minister's remarks. The esteemed teacher is noble and dignified; the dignity of the teacher must be preserved. The way of dealing with the financial income of teachers must be such that the dignity of the teacher is not compromised. Individuals who act in various political matters, sometimes [along with] possibly foreign hands, thinking they are trying to exploit this weakness for their own purposes; that is one issue, but apart from that, we must act in such a way that the dignity of the teacher is preserved.

The second point is regarding the flood-affected students; do not let them fall behind academically; both the repair of schools and the construction of schools - which God willing, its promise has also been made and must be pursued with seriousness in its natural course and the school-building benefactors, who are truly a very good and useful movement in the country, should help so that this work is done; many schools have been destroyed, rebuilding them and restoring them requires a lot of effort, a lot of financial resources, this work must be done with the help of the government, the people, and benefactors - and until this work is done, the students who are there, whether in their accommodation centers or their camps, wherever they are, must be in a situation that they do not fall behind in their studies; the issue of education is very important.

The general matter I want to present is that the institutions of science, education, and research in the country - which thank God are numerous; today we have many research and educational institutions in the country - should take pride in having been able to nullify the false temptation of the opposition between science and religion; this is a temptation that the material powers of the world have worked on for two or three centuries to prove that science and religion do not coexist; today in the Islamic Republic, the banner of religion is raised higher than anywhere else, and scientifically, the country is one of the leading countries in terms of science. Secular countries, countries under the command of America, countries whose policies are subject to Western American policies, have not only fallen behind in religion but also in science. I have heard an Arab journalist wrote to those same rulers of theirs, 'The difference between you and Iran is that Iran builds reactors, you build cabarets; they enrich uranium, you distribute wine, you promote Western corruptions in your society'; this is the great honor of our country.

Today, thousands of scholarly researchers and thinkers - whether in universities or other scientific centers - are engaged in teaching and working; I speak from knowledge; they are mostly young, mostly religious, many of them are very devout; with a religious and Islamic identity, with a proud Iranian identity, they are working in various fields with high motivation; they innovate, they teach, they research; they both produce knowledge and based on that knowledge, create technology in various sectors. Of course, since our backwardness has been significant, this movement that exists today in the country must continue for years; it is a very good and hard-working movement, but it must continue until, God willing, its results are fully seen; so this is one issue.

Another issue is the issue of skill training, which I have previously emphasized; that is, implementing and realizing scientific findings and teaching this to students and youths; which of course, its main center is education, that is, it must start from high school, it must start from school. If the spirit of skill acquisition is revived in the youth, that is, if they learn to implement scientific findings practically, then this will have many blessings in the future.

The last thing I want to say to you dear ones is that pay attention, today our enemy is attacking from all sides; in terms of economy, you see; in terms of information, they are planning to infiltrate; in terms of cyberspace, they are planning to strike the country through this. The enemy is, after all! The enemy primarily means America and Zionism; this current American government is not special, the previous ones were the same, but in different forms. The help that this person who is currently in power has given us - for which we should be grateful - is that he exposes America. The previous ones, as I said, put a fist of iron inside a velvet glove. Many did not see it, made mistakes; [but] these fools have pulled out the iron, they are showing it to everyone. Their movement is an open one. The enemy has entered from all sides. The officials of the country and all capable individuals and all people must do whatever they can to confront this enemy. In every sector, in every field they can, they must prepare themselves, be ready to enter the field. They must feel responsible. The enemy's posture is a war posture; economically it has taken a war posture; politically it has taken a war posture; only militarily, apparently, it does not have a war posture, which of course our military is vigilant about; just as I said, in terms of cyberspace, it has taken a war posture; against this enmity that has taken a war posture against the Iranian nation, the Iranian nation must take an appropriate posture, it must prepare itself in all various sectors.

And one of the most fundamental tasks is to maintain unity and solidarity. All people must be careful not to confront each other due to small differences of opinion and small differences in taste. They must know that the power of this nation lies in unity; the unity of all people, the unity of various social groups, the unity of different ethnicities living in the country, the unity of the officials of the country with the people, and the people with the officials of the country; this is what gives power to this country and has given power until now, and thanks be to God, this power exists; they must preserve this power. And they must know that with divine grace, all the plots that the enemy is carrying out, all the schemes they are devising against the Iranian nation, despite the extensive propaganda to confuse minds and mix the scene, will turn against them. You dear youths will witness the defeat of America by divine grace; you will witness the downfall of Zionism by divine grace; you will witness the ultimate greatness and dignity of the Iranian nation by divine grace. God's mercy be upon our great Imam, God's mercy be upon our dear martyrs, God's mercy be upon all the warriors of the path of truth.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.