The Literacy Movement Organization and the Construction Basij Organization signed a memorandum of understanding that aims to eradicate illiteracy in the country.
In a meeting between deputy minister of education and head of LMO Ali Bagherzadeh, and CBO chief Naaman Gholami, on the occasion of Government Week, both sides emphasized the importance of wiping out illiteracy as decreed by the Leader, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.
“The CBO aims to provide education to 60,000 people as per the MoU and 15-18% of our target is set for the current Iranian year (ends March 20, 2016),” Bagherzadeh said, ISNA reported.
The LMO can achieve nationwide literacy within the next five years if the required funding is allocated in the upcoming five-year economic development plan (2016-2021).
About 85% of the adult population is literate, far ahead of the regional average of 62%. This rate is 97% among young adults (ages 15-24 years) without gender discrepancy. Nearly 10 million people in both urban and rural areas are still illiterate and the LMO is striving to reduce the numbers, but there are financial constraints, he said.
The LMO plans to educate 553,000 people across the country in the current year, but given the existing resources, it can only reach out to 60% of the target. With the assistance of the CBO, the LMO hopes to overcome the problem.
“Last year, the CBO helped identify and provide literacy to 40,000 people, and the target is 66,000 this year,” said Bagherzadeh.
“As per the MoU, classroom resource materials will be provided by the LMO while organizing human resources and dispatching teachers to the targeted regions will be undertaken by the CBO.”
Gholami said the CBO is determined to help achieve the national goals in literacy.
Over the past two years, the government has taken a number of initiatives to help address illiteracy such as signing MoUs to provide long-distance education to housewives and conscripts, and ensure access to free and compulsory primary education for all children, particularly girls in deprived areas, as well as literacy campaigns in the six underdeveloped provinces of Sistan-Baluchestan, West Azarbaijan, Kerman, Kordestan, Northern Khorasan and Lorestan.
Social restrictions on obtaining or renewing driving licenses, business licenses and special pension grants for illiterate people who evade literacy classes will come into force from the next Iranian year(starts March 21).
Established in 1984, the LMO’s main functions include providing adult education and education for children outside the formal education system.
The CBO is affiliated to the paramilitary volunteer force Basij – the Organization for Mobilization of the Oppressed – and is responsible for construction projects in areas of healthcare, education, training and vocation, and services in underprivileged regions.
