The fourth seminar on ‘Economic Education and Research in Iran’ was held at Allameh Tabataba’i University, on Tuesday. In the presence of prominent professors in different economic fields progress and drawbacks in economic education were reviewed. The conferees shared views on ways and means to help improve the quality of education in this key sector, Eghtesad News reported.
Abbas Shakeri, secretary of the seminar, in a speech reflected on the need and importance of economic education and research in the centers of higher learning.
“Lack of historical, geographical, and political vision in economic education” were pointed out as major drawbacks by Hussein Raghfar, a prominent teacher of economics at AlZahra University. Every year, upon graduation, several highly-qualified students of economy see it necessary to leave the country for advanced learning, he noted. According to Raghfar the universities from which the students graduate are “indeed responsible for this loss of talent.”
University lecturer and an authority on water management, Mohammad Saeed Noori Naeni said “economic lies are prevalent across the globe…Discrepant and inconsistent information is tantamount to an economic lie. Iran’s targeted subsidy plan was not an exception.” According to the lecturer such crucial subjects need to be addressed in universities and solutions sought.
Most lecturers, including Mohsen Ranani of Isfahan University, were of the opinion that economic science does not necessarily deliver the intended educational purposes. Complaining that “economic education in Iran has transformed into an ideology,” he said haphazard investments in all scientific spheres will not produce anything significant. “To increase economic knowledge a bottom-up approach, from data to science, is essential. The approach in Iran is the other way round.”
Ali Dini Torkamani of the Trade Research Institute and Abolqassem Naderi of Tehran University’s Management and Planning Group, were among the other notable speakers at the event.
