Friday, March 21, 2025
The Majlis has rejected a proposal to introduce the teaching of Iran’s non Persian languages in schools. The proposal, put forward by the Education Committee, was defeated with 130 votes against, 104 in favor, five abstentions and seven not voting, with 246 of the 290 deputies present.
Minorities have long pushed for instruction in their languages in the schools, with many proposals seeking to start first graders exclusively in local languages and progressively adding more instruction in Persian. Nationalists have long opposed any instruction in local languages, reasoning that would fragment the country and lead to its dissolution. Others say it is the unwillingness to recognize and respect local tongues that promotes opposition to the national government.
When President Hassan Rohani first took office in 2013, he launched a program to bring local language instruction into grammar schools. But within months, angry opponents managed to kill the plan. Ehsan Azimi, the spokesperson for the Education Committee, suggested allocating 10% to 20% of educational resources to teaching local languages.
Opponents argued that the proposal contradicts constitutional provisions and could create divisions within the country. Critics expressed concerns that implementing multilingual education might threaten national cohesion, particularly in border regions where Iran’s ethnic minorities are concentrated. Article 15 of the Constitution makes Persian the official language of the country but allows limited use of local languages.
However, it neither authorizes nor bans the teaching of ethnic languages in the schools. It says in toto: “The Persian [Farsi] language and script are the official and common language and script of the Iranian people. Official documents, correspondence and texts as well as school textbooks must be in this language and script, but using local and ethnic languages in the press and mass media and in the teaching of their literature along with the Persian language in schools, is permitted.” The school system run by the Armenian churches teaches classes in Armenian with reluctant permission from the authorities.
The Majlis ultimately recommended further consultations to develop a more comprehensive proposal, with plans to revisit the issue in six months. Iran is home to multiple ethnic groups, including Kurds, Arabs, Baluchis, Lors, Azeris, and Turkmens, each with its distinct language. While statistics are often disputed, it appears that 53 percent of Iranians speak Persian at home, with a much larger, and disputed proportion, speaking Persian as a second language.
The discrimination against ethnic languages is nothing new with the Islamic Republic. These languages have faced long-standing restrictions in education and the media, a policy that dates back to the Pahlavi monarchy and even before.
