Kurdish language teachers have been facing harassment and persecution.12 13 Education in some
minority languages like Kurdish is available only through private classes, reducing the
accessibility and affordability of Kurdish education. Furthermore, private teachers are required to
obtain a license from the state to teach Kurdish, which places an additional barrier to private
practice. Kurdish language teachers have been facing harassment and persecution, as illustrated
by the situation of Zara Mohammadi, a young Kurdish language teacher, was arrested and
detained by the Iranian authorities between May and December 2019.14 She was subsequently
sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment.15
In 2016, reportedly up to 40,000 Ahwazi Arab children were denied access to education for
failing the Farsi language proficiency test, although Farsi being their second language.16 In 2019,
Rezvan Hakim Zadeh, deputy of the regime’s elementary education department, announced that
the health assessment plan for pre-school children will include an evaluation of the children’s
level of proficiency and comprehension in Persian. Children who fail to pass the assessment will
not be able to attend state kindergartens, therefore limiting severely access to pre-primary
education for children from ethnic minorities such as Ahwazi Arabs, Turks, Kurds and Balochis
who will be directed to an intensive training in the Farsi language.17 18
The lack of access to mother tongue education in primary and secondary schools remains a major
challenge in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This access at a young age is critical both to preserve
minorities’ distinct cultural identity, and to promote equality of opportunities. A lack of teaching
in a children’s mother tongue has reportedly been causing high school dropout and illiteracy
rates, notably among Azeri19 and Ahwazi Arab children.20
At the university level, the teaching in and of minority languages was nonexistent until 2015. In
August 2016, however, participants were able for the first time to choose Kurdish and Turkish
languages as majors at the bachelor level.21 Nonetheless, in practice, there has been no
elementary, middle school or high school in both the public and private education systems in Iran
teaching minority languages such as Turkish, Balochi or Kurdish. As a consequence,
opportunities for individuals who wish to access those majors are limited as the teaching of
minority languages at school is inexistant. Reports documented a lawsuit against the Ministry of
12
Joint submission to the Human Rights Committee from All Human Rights for All in Iran, Association for Human Rights in
Kurdistan – Geneva, Association for the Human Rights of the Azerbaijani People in Iran, Iran Human Rights Documenttion
Center, OutRight International, Siamak Pourzand Foundation, Small Media, Impact Iran, 2020,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CCPR_NGO_IRN_42317_E.pdf
13
Radio Zamaneh: < https://www.radiozamaneh.com/519191>
14
Radio Zamaneh: <https://www.radiozamaneh.com/519191 > and KMMK-G:<https://kurdpa.net/en/news/the-kmmk-gdemanded-the-immediate-and-unconditional-release-of-zara-mohammad>
15
Radio Zamaneh: < https://www.radiozamaneh.com/519191>
16
UNPO, https://unpo.org/article/19590
17
ISNA News https://www.isna.ir/news/99031005237/
18
Dur Untash Studies Center, https://www.dusc.org/en/drasat/3966/
19
Association for the human rights of the Azerbaijani people in Iran,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CRC_NGO_IRN_19735_E.pdf
20
Center for Human Rights in Iran, https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2013/10/khuzestan-teachers/
21
Radio Farda: <https://www.radiofarda.com/a/f7-students-able-to-select-azari-and-kurdi-for-university/27919663.html >
2