The threat of educational justice with the support of 10 thousand billions of non-government schools

According to Mehr's reporter, in the past few days, following the publication of the details of the budget proposed by the Ministry of Education, some education system experts have criticized this budget.

Lack of attention to skills training, lack of attention to the school renovation budget despite the President's explicit order to fix the problem of dilapidated schools by next year, and lack of attention to the nutrition of students such as free distribution of milk are among the issues and criticisms raised regarding the next year's budget. It is for the Ministry of Education.

On the other hand At a time when government schools are still facing their basic needs, an amount of 10 thousand billion rials has been allocated to the non-government schools support fund.

This issue has provoked the criticism of many educational activists and those who are concerned about educational justice. Among other things, Farhangian University's Basij reacted to this issue in several statements.

Now, Basij's educational justice and economics headquarters of the Ministry of Education reacted to this issue after the approval of the support note of one thousand billion tomans for the non-governmental school fund in the general budget of 1404, and in a statement, it considered the support of non-governmental schools to be against “justice-oriented” legislation.

The text of this statement is as follows:

In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Merciful

“Strengthening public schools is important. It should not be the case in the country that when it is said that it is a public school, the first thing that comes to mind is the weakness of the school.” (Supreme Leader)

The discourse of justice is the main essence of the Islamic revolution. Implementation of justice and negation of discrimination in the structure of the country's political system as the most important social goal of the Islamic Ummah within the framework of the constitution is the duty of all the policy makers and legislators in the country. Education in order to maintain the practical and theoretical requirements of the model of educational justice in the light of the Constitution and the intellectual system of the Imams of the Revolution, requires the establishment of justice in legal and legal requirements. According to the social idea of ​​the Islamic Republic in public law, public education should be applied and managed by the government, one of the important duties of the government is to protect the rights and public good, which free education is one of them. The dichotomy of public and private schools, which has become one of the disputed issues in the field of educational justice in the country in recent years, is an invalid dichotomy based on the constitution and the top documents of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Based on the explicit text of Article 30 of the Constitution, the government is obliged to provide “free” and “quality” education for all students until the end of secondary school.

Recently, the allocation of one thousand billion Tomans for “aid to support fund for non-government schools” in the 1404 budget approval of the whole country (paragraph 7-1 line) b Note 15) has caused many concerns for those concerned and activists of educational justice. Presenting this note is in conflict with the legislative duty of the Islamic Council in the direction of expanding justice and reducing the class gap. The presence of this note in the resolution of the Islamic Council has once again given credibility to the privatization of education and strengthened investment in the non-governmental sector. Providing facilities to the private sector has caused the increasing weakening of education in the public sector in the last decade.

According to Article 30 of the Constitution, the government is obliged to provide free education until the end of secondary school. The government's spending is based on the note in the budget approval and the aid of one thousand billion tomans from the support fund for non-government schools, while most of the government schools are forced to receive tuition from families due to insufficient per capita. Therefore; This resolution is to step in a direction against free and high-quality government education for everyone and education as a right for everyone. Also, placing the row related to education among the rows of granting loans under the title of supporting home businesses is in conflict with the philosophy and spirit governing the 30th principle of the constitution and reinforces the logic of profitability in education.

Also, the Supreme Leader's general policy of creating transformation in education considers it necessary to prioritize the education budget in the annual budget bills in order to fulfill the goals and missions included in the general policies. Therefore, the allocation of one thousand billion tomans to support non-government schools in the 1404 budget is contrary to the existing budget priorities in the education system based on the general policies of the Supreme Leader.

The non-transparent performance of the support fund for non-government schools

On the other hand, the non-transparent processes of the non-governmental school support fund, as a public non-governmental fund, and the existence of ambiguity in the extent of this fund's commitment to supporting students from deprived areas, which is mentioned in its statute, are among the issues that affect the “efficiency” of this fund. Asks questions. Supporting non-government schools without fulfilling pre-determined obligations towards the public sector of education is a grant from the government to the private sector!

Also, providing quality to public schools is one of the axes and missions of the government in the five-year vision of the 7th Development Plan, and in paragraph 2 of Article 91 of the 7th Development Plan Strengthening and improving the quality of public schools has been proposed from various quantitative and qualitative aspects in the fields of science, education, and skills. Without the need of schools in the non-government sector, the proliferation of private schools will have irreparable consequences on the body of government education and the government's will to exercise its will in the matter of education in the near future. will do Also, considering the emphasis of the 7th Development Plan to strengthen and develop conservatories, increasing the number of students in public schools and covering 100% of students left out of education, placing The line of support for private sector schools in the budget is contrary to the main missions of education under the 7th Development Plan.

The weakening of public schools and the strengthening of non-government sector schools is the executive application of the 1,000 billion Toman aid note of the Islamic Council. Allocation of government support packages from investors and private sector institutions in education, ultimately leads to the weakening of formal and public education; Because the limited resources available to the government do not meet all the needs and problems of public schools, and granting facilities and resources to the non-governmental sector will weaken the political support of the public sector. Based on this, government schools which manage, educate and train 80% of the student population in the light of policies and legislations unjust Every day they distance themselves from quality and efficiency and become fatter in front of non-government schools. The weakening of public schools causes the need and forced migration of the middle class to private sector schools.

The duty of the law of the 7th development plan is to support public schools

The educational justice and economic base of the Ministry of Education, in line with the central mission of equal education and removing the bottlenecks of educational justice, has announced its opposition to the support note of one thousand billion tomans from the non-governmental school fund in the 1404 budget and demanded the special attention of the government and parliament to The implementation of the assigned programs in the law of the 7th Development Plan is to support public schools, strengthen and develop conservatories, and address the situation of students who are left out of school.

Also, with regard to the allocation of one thousand billion Tomans to help the Non-Government School Fund, this camp demands to clarify the details of the past and future performance of this fund in implementing the provisions of its constitution.

Mehr News Agency is ready to publish the answers of the officials of the organization of non-governmental schools and the support fund for non-governmental schools regarding the issues raised in this statement.