October 14, 2022
President Raisi says the Islamic Republic puts the family at the center of society, while the Americans and their supporters seek hegemony over other states in order to prevent them from developing and becoming rivals.
Raisi outlined his view of the world and Iran’s role in it during a speech while he was in New York in September and addressed the Transforming Education Summit organized by UNESCO.
“Human knowledge takes pride in Iranian scientists. Iran’s history of civilization started with science and knowledge and was elevated by the Islamic culture which based its pillars on heavenly thoughts. The holy religion of Islam is constantly inviting human beings to education with the aim of better administering justice and expanding spirituality,” Raisi told the meeting.
“Progress and development are among the major concerns of all countries. Although on different occasions countries have implemented international recommendations and prescriptions, concurrently some serious challenges, too, have emerged for the indigenous and national cultures of the countries of the world,” he said, reflecting the Islamic Republic’s concern that the West is trying to force its culture and social norms on the rest of the world.
“We believe that in order to face educational challenges, we need to identify their root causes. We have been fundamentally critical of international bodies’ reading and interpretation of the contemporary world history and their classification of issues. If our cause is to create a dignified life and a safe world, we should refrain from providing a unilateral gathering of globalization, and, instead, emphasize the role-playing of all parties within the framework of multilateral approaches,” he said in the official English translation of his speech.
He went on, “The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that development, education, family, justice and spirituality should not be delved into as separate unrelated entities. Any initiative regarding the development and satisfaction of human needs should also include educational and moral requirements as well. At the same time, the family should be placed at the center of the initiative.”
Then he put in a jab at societies that accept gay families. “Of course, when we say family, we mean it in the real sense of the word and not self-made versions of a family which lead to the extinction of humanity. Development, when not accompanied by spirituality and ethics, will not be sustainable and will lead to degeneration of society. Cultural dominance and knowledge blockade are the worst types of oppression and injustice.”
Raisi continued, “Unfortunately, the culture of hegemony sees its benefits in preventing other countries from development and by creating an unfair global order, misusing international bodies and setting up their own cultural and thought systems, trying to prevent other countries from progress and development.”
He said, “This is our question: Should education and principally human beings be at the service of sustainable development or should sustainable development be placed at the service of human beings? If educational transformation does not lead to human progress and development, it will only bring about humanity’s weakness. We expect international bodies to respect the right to cultural and educational sovereignty of all countries and to protect them against cultural invasion. We believe that educational transformation without paying attention to ‘family, justice and spirituality’ would not be possible,” the president said.
“We should focus on moral values, including honoring the family, respect for the environment and justice, rejection of violence and extremism, and creating a safe, moral, clean and efficient cyber space as our priorities for educational transformation,” he added.
The president stressed, “With the aim of enhancing quality in Iran’s new educational system, we have moved from focusing on a memorization-based curriculum to one based on research, innovation, skill acquiring and commitment to education and cultural and religious values.”
