The director of Children and Preschool Office at the State Welfare Organization (SWO) said preschools have been instructed to only hire teachers who hold SWO credentials. Arezoo Zokaee Fard told ILNA that there is no hiring of uncertified teachers as the SWO “is highly sensitive about children’s education. It has also established different scientific committees to prescribe preschool curriculum.”
The rules and regulations require preschool teachers to have certain prerequisites including attending and qualifying for the special training courses held by the SWO, said Zokaee Fard.
She emphasized that preschools should not hire teachers without prior coordination with the SWO. ‘’Education of kids under the age of 6 is very important since part of the character of the child is developed during this period.’’ The proper education of children who are a “future investment,’’ can help prevent many social maladies later on.
Textbooks
‘’One of our policies has been to unify curriculum material for all preschools. So far two curriculum charts have been designed to meet the requirements of preschools,’’ said Zokaee Fard. ‘’Part of the curriculum includes a 13 volume book, with concepts designed for the children and the teachers; plus 10 volumes on religious concepts.’’
A special textbook to teach children life skills has also been published by the SWO and is now being taught in preschools. She pointed out that some of the text books have been revised and edited to make them “more suitable for kids” and said more revisions are on the agenda. ‘’We are also studying the efficacy of the textbooks on children and hope to get results by next year.’’
Localization
The official said ‘’localization of educational content’’ has been prioritized by the SWO and committees have been set up to work towards this goal. ‘’We are making efforts to adapt children’s textbooks to each region’s local culture.”
All preschools whether they are in villages, suburban areas, mosques or Friday preschools function under the supervision of the SWO.
“We support them by organizing the distribution of warm food in rural preschools and tuition subsidies for the less fortunate sections of the society,’’ Zokaee Fard said, adding that all the preschools are graded and their tuition fee set according to the level of their performance.
