Leader Hails Teachers’ Role in Helping Build Country’s Future

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei described teachers as the most honorable class of society whose role in helping build the future of the country is not comparable with any other job. 
Speaking to a group of teachers on the occasion of National Teacher’s Day on Tuesday, he expressed appreciation for these “patient, hardworking and committed champions” in all cities and villages of the country. 
“The value of raising an informed, knowledgeable and determined generation with Islamic ethics and national commitments to build the future of the country cannot be compared to any other work,” he said, Leader.ir reported. 
He called on teachers to nurture the children of the nation to be prosperous, wise and respectful, the way they wish for their own, adding that this would be achieved by means of their own model of behavior alongside teaching. 
It is also a primary duty of teachers to revitalize a sense of Iranian-Islamic identity and national personality in the youth, according Ayatollah Khamenei. 
“In this process, the issue of Persian language, the flag of the country and feeling proud of being Iranian are important, … while luminaries and cultural, scientific and historical records of the country should be taught to students,” he said. 
In return for these expectations of teachers, it is absolutely essential for the government to truly feel responsible about this community and their various problems, the Leader added. 
“Teachers’ livelihood is very important, but their issues are not only about livelihood and involve a wider range that includes training skills, gaining experience and sorting out the affairs of [teacher training] universities,” he said. 
He later pointed to the issue of teacher recruitment and shortage of efficient forces across the country, explaining that this could be resolved by further investment in teacher training organizations, as well as making use of the potential of senior experienced teachers.
It is also essential to monitor teachers’ general and professional competence throughout their years of service and avoid judging them based on pre-employment assessments only, he said. 

Power of Education

Ayatollah Khamenei also stressed the importance of the educational system in general, saying it would not have been possible for the country to ride out difficult situations along the course of progress without its role.
A strategic mistake of some past authorities was that they failed to recognize the educational system’s power of influence and saw it as a nuisance and useless consumer of budget, according to Ayatollah Khamenei. 
Echoing most experts’ common view about the central role of schools in addressing the country’s problems, he said most issues would not have existed today if adequate attention had been given to schools two decades earlier. 
Regarding the Fundamental Reform Document of Education that was prepared in 2011, the Leader gave some pieces of advice to relevant officials. 
He said the document should be complemented and updated constantly, while avoiding the submission of equal alternatives. 
Ayatollah Khamenei called for support and assistance for this document’s implementation, saying a roadmap should be prepared and distributed at all levels with the support of the government and parliament. 
“In the roadmap, evaluation indices should be determined so that the progress of the document can be monitored at all times,” he said. 
He later underlined the necessity to adapt the contents and structure of courses with the country’s needs. 
“The country needs skillful work force as much as it needs intellectual resources and scientists,” he said, regretting the absence of balance between customary educational contents and vocational training at high schools.    
The Leader called on relevant authorities to reconsider the current course of action and evaluate its productivity. 
“The central policy of the education system should be teaching beneficial knowledge and meeting the country’s needs of today and tomorrow.” 
Course books should be updated to match with the changes of time, according to the Leader.
In doing so, Islamic concepts should be included and important figures in scientific exploration in Iran’s history should be introduced, he said. 
Ayatollah Khamenei stressed the importance of life skills training, deploring the absence of such instructors in many schools. 
“Life skills training should also be attractive so that it does not discourage students,” he said. 
The Leader finally criticized the instability in the education system’s management, saying this huge organization will be harmed as a result of constant change of ministers, especially when it is followed by changes at lower-ranking levels. 
He called for urgent settlement of the management gap to improve the performance of the ministry’s tasks. 
Before the Leader’s speech, caretaker of the Education Ministry Rezamorad Sahraei presented a report of the ministry’s plans and activities over the past year.