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Society & Culture

Police vs Education, Iranian Style

December 26, 2014
Iranwire Staff
4 min read
Police vs Education, Iranian Style
Police vs Education, Iranian Style
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Iran’s government bars Baha’is from university. The Baha’is, a persecuted religious minority in Iran, have been denied access to higher education ever since the 1979 revolution. Professors were fired from their jobs and students were expelled.

The Baha’is created an alternative in 1987, the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education, to meet the educational need of young Baha’is. The BIHE had no campus and few resources. Classes would meet in people’s homes. Coursework and instruction used postal (and later online) correspondence.

Thousands of Baha’is have received their education (though no formal credentials) through the BIHE. Many have pursued postgraduate degrees in the West. But the government has staged numerous crackdowns and thirteen Baha’is are in prison for their BIHE work. Officials either deny that Baha’is are denied higher education or claim that Iran’s universities are only for Muslims.

The issue is now at the heart of the global campaign Education Is Not A Crime. Find out more at http://educationisnotacrime.me.

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