March 17, 2023
Iran plans to change the content of textbooks in foreign languages used in private schools that the authorities deem out of line with the Islamic Republic’s values, after sharp criticism by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi.
The head of the Nongovernmental Schools and Centers in Iran said January 15 that a call will soon be issued to create new content for foreign-language teaching books to bring them in line with Khamenehi’s order.
“Textbooks that are not aligned with our customs and culture will be discarded,” the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) quoted Ahmad Mah-mudzadeh as saying.
In recent years, the content of textbooks has been changed many times by order of Khamenehi, but this is the first time that a change has been ordered for books used in private institutions. It isn’t clear what content raised Khamenehi’s ire or how he learned of it, since he does not know English.
Khamenehi has repeatedly expressed his opposition to the teaching of foreign languages, especially English, in the country’s schools. Following criticism, he voiced in 2016, the Education Ministry banned the teaching of English in primary schools.
Khamenehi has absolute power in the country’s ruling structure and some of his edicts have angered Iranians who say they reach too deeply into their personal freedoms and often go into realms far beyond his personal knowledge.