Raising Educational Standards for Children

It is estimated that there are around ten thousand socially engaged non-governmental organisations working in Iran. One of these is the "Centre for the Cultural Development of Children". Amin Farzanefar takes a closer look

Teacher and pupils in a CDDC teaching centre in South Chorasan (photo: © www.ccdc.ir)
The CCDC is a non-governmental organisation, whose primary goal is to improve general education levels in deprived rural areas and to enhance cultural awareness

​​Although conservative estimates presently put the number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in Iran at around 4,000 – the true number may well be over 10,000.

It was the reaction of the country's enthusiastic youth more than anything that heralded a veritable boom in the establishment of NGOs after the arrival in office of reforming president Chatami.

Most of these NGOs steer clear of direct political activities, however, preferring to concern themselves with disadvantaged or marginal groups, including the high number of drug addicts and prostitutes, women, the unemployed or the disabled as well as young offenders and children.

Libraries for Children

The "Centre for the Cultural Development of Children" (CDDC) sees to it, for example, that remote village schools are supplied with libraries and multimedia education programmes. In the impoverished rural areas of the country, the organisation, which was founded five years ago, wants to raise educational standards to match those available to the urban population.

Monireh Homayouni has been working with children for 35 years. After finishing her studies in Germany she opened a Persian language school there before returning to Iran and becoming involved in the setting up of various NGOs.

Her work with young offenders convinced her that many problems were best solved by tackling them at their root – the lack of proper education. Today she is responsible for the running of the Centre.

With the help of volunteers she's involved in everything from organising rooms to bringing in books and holding courses as well as training villagers to become librarians.

"We teach peace education and children's rights, environmental awareness and hygiene as well as useful everyday skills. We organise story-telling, theatrical performances and literary readings, and try to help in the preservation of local traditions and craft skills as well as promoting art and calligraphy."

So far the Centre has set up eight libraries and has cooperation arrangements with a further 27. Reconstruction work at the city of Bam which was devastated by an earthquake is just one of many aid projects that the CCDC is currently involved in.

Islamic Alms

Without state subsidies the Centre remains very much dependent upon one of Iran's staple aid resources - a very traditional and religiously rooted willingness to make donations and be socially active. The classic giving of "alms" ensures that the CCDC is able to provide children from poorer backgrounds or remote areas with places to sleep.

"A sponsorship of 50,000-60,000 Touman (50-60 Euros) makes it possible to help those who drop out of school to avoid the standard fate of child workers, where boys tend to become shepherds while girls take up carpet making," says Monireh Homayouni.

The CCDC's road to modernisation is not an easy one. Encouraging active participation rather than learning by heart, group work in place of teacher-centred instruction and the introduction of modern teaching materials – all represents new territory, not only for teachers and volunteer assistants, but for parents too.

"These villages are often extremely religious and traditional places. The parents worry about their honour, for example, when their children know more about things than they do themselves," Homayouni says.

Fortunately, however, the good work is paying off and more and more village children are finding themselves at home with modern teaching materials, computers and CDs. After long discussions it was possible to convince the provincial authorities to adapt the curriculum to local needs.

Internal and External Resistance

This spirit of reform has not yet ascended to the higher levels, however. In Iran the innate leaning towards private initiative and regional commitment tends to clash with a society produced by decades of planned economy and a hierarchical structure thousands of years old.

There is cooperation with the WHO, however, or with UNICEF and other organisations. And there is an impressively modern development programme, which, among other things, provides microcredits for regional initiatives or financial support for non-governmental organisations.

But centralism, mismanagement, incompetent and slow-moving officialdom all contrive to provide obstacles to the noblest of intentions. With authorisation requiring the approval of three separate ministries, for example, over half the NGOs have not bothered to register.

That organisations such as the CCDC are also largely isolated in the international context is a consequence of current policies. In the wake of the nuclear standoff under Ahmadinejad, Iran's traditional and deeply rooted fear of foreign interference and espionage has been on the increase.

US President Bush sent a wrong signal at the wrong time when he recently released 75 million dollars for a "regime change". While most of the money is earmarked for foreign opposition, one third is intended for purposes of strengthening the civil society in Iran itself. But here it has been a case of thanks, but no thanks. The hope persists that with the younger generation it will all be different, all be better.

Amin Farzanefar

© Qantara.de 2006

Translated from the German by Ron Walker

Qantara.de

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www
Website of the Centre for the Cultural Development of Children (CDDC)