New Education Minister Rewriting Learning Process

The newly-elected minister of education Mohammad Bahtaee has presented his roadmap for improving the educational system. He says he has plans to reform the educational content because “the current school curriculum has failed to instill necessary skills in students.”

From his perspective “The school curriculum should help students solve real life problems rather than just memorize facts and figures.”

In a talk with state-TV at the weekend, he noted that for the coming school year (starts September 23) eleventh grade textbooks have undergone major changes. “The new books include content that suit the needs of students,” he said without elaboration.

Textbooks of seventh and eighth graders had undergone major changes in 2015 and new topics such as ‘drug addiction’ and ‘puberty’ were introduced for the first time. “We still need to tailor books to the needs of students for other grades,” Bahtaee said.

According to the national education plan, the education system is to be divided into four three-year levels. Among other things, the new procedure says  primary students should have the same teacher for the first three years of  education.

“The method is premised on the evaluation that precariousness and disruption in the first years of education can lead to difficulties in forming a strong and trusted relationship with teachers…and negatively affect the students’ performance,” the minister said.

This system has not yet been implemented in all schools due to the lack of trained teachers, he said and hinted at “changes in management policies” of the Education Ministry. It was not clear what changes he has in mind.  

  Teachers’ Ranking

Bahtaee says the ranking system for teachers, approved by the Majlis in 2014, will be implemented come September.

According to the plan, teachers will be evaluated based on specific criteria  regarding their teaching methods.

Participation in individual and group activities, education and scientific societies, employing innovative and dynamic teaching techniques and use of new technologies such as IT and ICT, use of latest methods and tools for evaluating academic achievement and skill-based assignments to help bring innovation and creativity to the education process, are among the yardsticks.

Former Vice-President Eshhaq Jahangiri notified the Education Ministry and the Management and Planning Organization in 2015 of the government’s approval of the ‘teacher evaluation system’ and asked them to implement it.

According to the assessment plan, teachers fit in four categories: basic, senior, expert and excellent, and accordingly receive 15%, 25%, 35% and 50% increase  in remuneration.

The Education Ministry has a payroll of 928,000 staff of which 575,000 are teachers (including preschool teachers). Earlier this week, head of Administrative and Recruitment Affairs, Jamshid Ansari, said the ministry plans to recruit 8,200 new teachers this year.