Statements in Meeting with Thousands of Teachers and Educators from Across the Country

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

Thanks be to God, the 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 infallible progeny, especially the Awaited One among the inhabitants of the earth.

I extend my warm welcome to each and every one of you, dear brothers and sisters, teachers and cultivators of virtue, and builders of the future of the country. I greet the teaching community across the country, congratulate all our esteemed teachers on Teacher's Day, and honor the memory of the great teacher and martyr, the late Ayatollah Motahhari, whose memory is always associated with this day. This day, the twelfth of Ordibehesht, is an opportunity for us to express our sincerity to the teaching community of the country; to express our gratitude, to show our respect, and to offer verbal appreciation to our dear teachers — of course, verbal appreciation is not enough, but it is necessary — and to discuss matters related to education.

The "appreciation of the teacher" that we have mentioned is essential. Firstly, "He who does not thank the created does not thank the Creator"; everyone must be grateful to teachers. It is you who educate our children, teach them, and prepare them for their lives; this is a great task. The entire nation, every individual across the country, in every rank and profession, must thank teachers. Secondly, the gratitude I express here is to draw public attention to the importance of education and the significance of the teacher. Many of our issues stem from public opinion; if public opinion is informed about a matter, it will be easier to accomplish that task. We currently face material problems in education, livelihood issues, work-related challenges, and issues with the educational environment; if public opinion becomes sensitive to this matter, recognizes the teacher, and appreciates the teacher, it will have an impact on all these problems; this is what we want. I explicitly state the public duty to express gratitude to teachers so that public opinion pays attention to this issue.

The more respected the teaching profession is, the more attractive it will become. If a profession enjoys public respect, naturally, its appeal will increase. When the appeal increases, individuals with higher qualifications will turn to this profession; the teaching community will experience an elevation in terms of scientific and spiritual levels; if this happens, the country will improve in terms of education. You see, this is a clear calculation. We must work to ensure that the teaching profession is respected worldwide. This is the responsibility of the media, of those who hold public speaking platforms, to define the teaching profession for the people and commend it. Now, this is regarding the teacher.

But why should we talk about education? Because education is truly not an institution on par with other institutions of the country; this must be accepted by all. Now, the point I made that "it is not on par with other institutions" raises questions in the minds of many people; this is where public opinion manifests itself. "It is not on par with other institutions" means what? It means that other institutions are users of human resources, while education is the creator of human resources; yes, we have higher education, but the foundation is here. This twelve-year period should not be underestimated. The identity of human resources is formed in education. When a teacher is actively present in the field, they are, in fact, shaping identity. Your behavior, your speech, your positioning, sometimes a joke you make in class, sometimes a reprimand you give, all of these are influential on your audience, which is that young generation that must make decisions and shape the future of the country.

Well, this is the position of education: it prepares human resources; and human resources are the greatest wealth of any country. If we have oil, mines, gold underground, various types of underground wealth, good air, good space, but we do not have the people to utilize them, what benefit is there? Africa in the last century was a source of the greatest and finest wealth in the world, but it lacked the people to utilize them; Europeans took advantage of this opportunity and exploited Africa's wealth. This is the importance of human resources; education provides these human resources. In our country, like everywhere else, our security, our progress, our health, our welfare, our knowledge, our research, all our human and Islamic values require human resources; they need human resources; education creates these human resources. Therefore, we must talk a lot about education, we must speak a lot, we must work hard.

I will mention a few words regarding education based on this. Of course, the statements of the Minister were very good; many of them were in line with previous reminders. Thanks be to God, the advancements mentioned are significant; some of them we have also noted in our reports, which we may refer to.

I will mention a few words regarding education. I will also briefly discuss expectations from teachers and the expectations we have from the teaching community of the country.

Regarding education, I will mention a few key points. One key point, which is the most important, is the issue of "transformation," which the Minister referred to. In the past, we put this transformation document in the drawer and closed it! No movement took place, and we suffered losses. The years during which the transformation document was not taken seriously, we did not make progress, and we suffered losses. Well, thanks be to God, I have heard that the document has been reviewed, is nearing completion, and a "roadmap" for its implementation has been prepared, which is all important. Especially this roadmap for implementing the document is very important; we must know how to implement this document so that it has its effect at all levels of education; this is good news. Do not let any delays occur and pursue the work seriously.

In all stages, elite elements should be utilized. There are elites within education who have opinions, and there are also those outside of education; there are individuals who do not have a prominent role in education but have ideas and opinions; their views should be utilized. This document must be continuously and increasingly updated; that is, today you have updated the document, but it may need to be updated again in two or three years; because transformations are rapid. Therefore, utilize these insights. This first key point is the point of transformation.

The second key point is the issue of empowering teachers. Empowerment has two aspects: one is related to material and livelihood issues; this has always been emphasized by us, and the government must make necessary efforts in this area within its capabilities; this is, of course, important in its own right; it is a necessary task and must be pursued as much as possible. However, empowerment has another dimension that I want to emphasize; and that is that the teacher should utilize their spiritual power, that is, the love that naturally exists within a person for teaching and education, and utilize the necessary knowledge and experiences to sustain the teaching profession; the sustainability of the teacher's work. When we say you create human beings, you produce human resources, this is not merely achieved by going to class and teaching the specified pages of the book; although that is also necessary, it is not solely that. When we enter the classroom, as a responsible person, as someone who has the authority over this group and the future of this group, we want to outline a future for them, with this intention, this spirit, this motivation, and this understanding of teaching. This is our point; empowerment is in this way.

Well, if we want the teaching community to reach the level I mentioned, we must strengthen teacher training centers, which have been referred to. I have repeatedly recommended the Teacher Training University and teacher training centers, emphasized it, and I will emphasize it again; it should not be underestimated; these places are very important. In fact, the Teacher Training University is the place for training the educators of the new generation of the country; therefore, it holds great importance. This is another issue.

The third key point is the issue of the educational assistantship. At one point, this idea was propagated that the educational assistantship is not necessary at all; why? Their logic was that education should be carried out by the teacher themselves. This is a correct statement; the teacher's job is not only to teach; the teacher must also educate and nurture, but this is not enough; that is the discussion. The educational assistantship is one of the most important sections of education. Of course, today the educational assistantship has its problems; there are financial resource shortages and various perspectives, but this section must be strengthened.

The primary task of the educational assistantship is to prevent the emergence and spread of moral and social harms among the youth. I want to suggest that our youth — who are part of the millions of students, a very large number of active young people and adolescents — should go and prevent social harms; well, the prerequisite is that there should be no social harms within the schools themselves; this is the task of the cultural assistantship. Now, of course, they provide statistics that these harms have increased; I do not trust these statistics very much; they are not very reliable, but harms do exist; that is, violent behavior, inappropriate moral relationships, and many other things that I do not want to name. The educational assistantship must address these issues.

Another issue related to the educational assistantship is the explanation of the fundamental interests of the country and the Islamic Republic system; these must be clarified and communicated to the youth. If these millions of young people and adolescents we have in education, in schools, recognize the fundamental interests of the system, recognize the interests of their country, recognize the front of friends and enemies of their country, and understand the essential issues needed by their country, then the propaganda of the enemies and all the billions of efforts that enemies make for propaganda and misleading public opinion will be neutralized. If our youth are preemptively educated in this regard and are intellectually "vaccinated," the enemies' propaganda will be neutralized.

And the youth of the country should know what the components of national interests are and what the logic behind them is; this is also important. Now, for example, suppose regarding America, they chant "Death to America"; well, the youth chant, but they must know why they say "Death to America," why we say "Death to the Zionist regime"; they must understand this and know the logic behind it. Why do we say we are not willing to establish relations with such and such government, such and such country; what is the reason? This rationality that underlies these overall interests must be understood. This is another key point related to the educational assistantship.

Another key point is the issue of managerial stability in education. As I have been informed, over the long years in the past, we have had an average of one minister every two years; one minister every two years! Well, the fate of this institution is clear; by the time they come and start a fundamental task, the minister must leave; when the minister leaves, the entire management structure under their supervision also changes, and fundamental work does not reach fruition. I emphasize the need for managerial stability; from high-level management to mid-level, stability must be established so that programs can be followed. This is another key point that pertains both to the internal and external aspects of education.

Another key point, which I believe is also important, is modeling in the teaching community of the country. Who are the role models of your teaching community across the country? We have role models in other fields; for example, in sports, champions are role models; in art, prominent artists are role models; in the realm of religious education and spirituality, there are distinguished groups who serve as role models for others; students look to their religious authority, to that great teacher. In the teaching community, who are the role models? They must be introduced. The education institution should identify teachers who have outstanding qualities in terms of teaching standards across the country. For example, suppose there is a teacher who teaches well, has outstanding teaching skills. There are teachers who have dedicated a long period of their lives to teaching; we have had teachers — a few, a handful — who have taught for fifty years, sixty years! This is very important; this is a role model. A teacher who teaches in difficult areas; rides a bicycle to go to a remote area to teach five or ten students and returns.

A teacher who does not abandon the task of education and training despite various internal and external challenges and physical and mental hardships; these are heroes; these individuals should be identified across the country and introduced as heroes. From each province, in turn, three, five, or ten individuals should be selected and introduced as heroes, and rewards should be given as recognition of their heroism. This is also one of the necessary tasks; well, this task I mentioned is inspiring for teachers; we need this inspiration.

And now, regarding the expectations from teachers that I need to express. We have expectations from you teachers: one of the expectations, which may be the most important, is the one I have previously referred to; the teacher is not just a transmitter of knowledge but a nurturer of the identity of the student; pay attention to this. Understand that you are shaping the personality of this young person and adolescent. If you work deeply, if they go to university, suppose there is a problem in the university, this problem will not affect them; their identity will be formed. You are, in fact, extracting the abilities and innate talents of this young person and adolescent sitting in your class. They have the potential to write but cannot write; you bring this potential to fruition. They have the potential to solve problems but cannot solve them; they have the latent ability to create problems but cannot create them; you teach them these skills; in other words, you are extracting this talent; like a gold and silver mine that contains gold and silver and is extracted. You are the identity builders; therefore, you must teach them both knowledge, which is the primary task, and also instill self-confidence, motivation, and enthusiasm for work and study so that they can extract the capacities that exist within them. This is the first point.

The second point follows from this: discovering the talents of students. You have more contact with these young people and adolescents than their parents do; especially with the challenges that have arisen in recent times, in this machine age and so on. You can discover their talents. If a teacher pays attention to the students, they can discover these talents; and either nurture them or inform their parents or refer them to the necessary centers for these talents to flourish. This is the second point.

The third issue — which I believe is also very important — is that you should give this student a national perspective; what does this mean? It means we have a broad plan for managing the country, for the progress of the country; there is a table. If the boxes of this table are filled correctly, the result will be the progress of the country. Your class is one of the boxes of this table. This student should feel that they are part of a larger whole, a collective; they should know that what they are studying now is part of a collective and public movement, a piece of the overall progress of the country; this must be conveyed to the student; of course, the teacher must first feel this in themselves. This is our recommendation to teachers; understand that your class is not an isolated point; it is one of the components of the whole that is driving and advancing this great machine, which is called the country, society, and system; look at your job with this perspective, and convey this perspective to the student. This is the same as giving identity to the student; it means making them feel that they are part of a collective that is moving the entire country forward. Their work is not just a personal task; yes, right now they are studying, they are learning, but this learning is a part of a larger task being carried out at the national level; this feeling must be conveyed to the student. Familiarize the student with national honors, with the assets of the country, with the victories achieved through following the right paths and giving the right slogans, and also with the dangers; familiarize them with dangers, enemies, and hostilities. This is another expectation.

The next expectation is the issue of instilling hope. I repeatedly emphasize the issue of hope for the youth. The reason is that hope is, in fact, the guarantor of the future of the country. If someone can create hope in today's youth and adolescents, inject it into them, they are, in fact, contributing to the construction of the future of the country. Those who try to discourage the youth out of spite for the system or for a person or for a government are, in fact, harming the future of the country. Instilling hope means explaining the advancements to them, explaining the positive points, and explaining the inspiring prospects. You may have a point of weakness in the country, in the system, in the government's work in your mind, but there is no need to convey that and cause discouragement and make the youth lose hope. You should try to instill hope in them for the future. This hope will motivate them to move forward and guide them on the right path. Instilling hope is a service to the future of the country. This is another point.

The next point, alongside knowledge and education — which we have discussed — is to encourage the student to engage in social activities. We currently have many social activities: the activities in mosques, charitable efforts, the street celebrations of the middle of Sha'ban, Eid al-Ghadir, and so on, these social activities related to construction, the "Wayfarers of Light" and "Wayfarers of Progress," or the youth who go to remote villages to engage in activities; encourage the youth to participate in these types of activities; this will make them experienced. Moreover, it will also resolve many issues in the country. We currently have nearly seventeen million students; of these seventeen million, at least seven million are young people and adolescents who can play roles in various fields; we must make the utmost use of this force to advance the country and move the work forward. This is also an issue.

And the last issue is the issue of skill training, which was also mentioned in the Minister's statements. A few days ago, I met with dear workers here in the Hosseiniyeh, and I said that the level of workers' skills is fundamentally rooted in schools; that is, if skill training is carried out in schools — aside from the institutions related to vocational training and similar things; if this work is done in the ordinary schools of the country — I believe this will lead to significant progress.

These are our expectations; of course, our dear teachers are doing well, many of them respond to these expectations without us saying anything, but these must become common in the teaching community.

Today, the issue of Gaza is the foremost issue in the world; that is, at the international level. The Zionists and their American and European supporters are doing everything they can to remove the issue of Gaza from the public opinion agenda of the world, but they cannot. Well, look at these universities in America; today I read in the news that several more universities have joined; in Australia, in various European countries. That is, nations are sensitive to the issue of Gaza; this issue is the foremost issue in the world. We must not allow this issue to be removed from the international public gaze and from being the foremost issue; pressure on the Zionist regime must increase day by day.

There is a point that is good to pay attention to. Well, today the whole world is witnessing the behavior of the Zionist regime; thirty thousand casualties in six months, of which at least half are women and children; this is not a small matter, such cruelty, such savagery is not a trivial thing for this rabid dog to attack Palestinian children, the sick, the elderly, and women. Well, this is one of the things that has solidified the permanent position of the Islamic Republic for the people of the world; the legitimacy of this permanent position of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been proven; why? Because for decades, the Islamic Republic has been saying: "Death to the Zionist regime"; this position has been proven right. It has been shown to the whole world that the truth is with the Islamic Republic, the truth is with the Iranian nation; because this regime has revealed its evil and wicked nature in this great test. The legitimacy of the Islamic Republic has been established.

Another point is the behavior of America. You observe how the Americans and their related institutions are conducting transactions with Israel while verbally opposing it! The students of American universities did not destroy anything, did not chant destructive slogans, did not kill anyone, did not set anything on fire, did not break any glass, but this is how they are treated. This behavior of the Americans also demonstrates the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic's position in its distrust of America; that is, it has become the backing of the very "Death to America" that you chant; it has shown everyone that America is complicit in this crime. They may sometimes say something as a form of concern and so on, but it is a lie, it is contrary to reality. What one observes in practice indicates the complicity and collusion of America in this great crime, in this unforgivable sin with the Zionist regime; they are accomplices in this crime. How can one be optimistic about such a system, about such a regime, or trust its words? How is it possible? Well, this is one matter.

The next matter regarding the current issue of Palestine is that, in our opinion, as long as Palestine does not return to its rightful owners, the problem of West Asia will not be resolved. Even if they try for twenty years, thirty years to keep this regime afloat — which, God willing, they will not be able to do — the problem will not be resolved. The problem will be resolved when Palestine returns to its rightful owners, that is, the Palestinian people. Palestine belongs to the Palestinian people, among whom there are Muslims, Christians, and Jews; Palestine is theirs; they should return Palestine to them, and they should establish their own regime, their own system, and then that system should decide how to deal with the Zionists; whether to expel them or keep them; the decision should be theirs; this is the solution we announced several years ago, which was apparently registered in the United Nations; we still insist on this; until this happens, the issue of the West Asia region will not be resolved.

Some think that by forcing the surrounding countries to normalize relations with the Zionist regime, the problem will be resolved; no, they are mistaken. Suppose various neighboring countries, mainly Arab countries, normalize their relations with the Zionist regime; this will not solve the problem, but rather will redirect the problem to those governments; that is, those governments that turned a blind eye to these crimes and shook hands with that regime despite such atrocities, their nations will turn against those governments. If today the nations of the region are against the Zionist regime, tomorrow the nations of the region will be against their own governments. The problem will not be resolved in this way; Palestine must return to the Palestinians. We hope, God willing, that the Almighty will bring this future about as soon as possible.

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