|
Iran has 5 years of compulsory schooling from the
children is 6 years. The primary school is 5 years old,
followed by 3 years of secondary school. The high school is
3 years old. The last few years have been divided between an
academic and a vocational line. 80% of the pupils continue
in secondary school and high school. The country has 36
universities.
After the Islamic revolution in 1979, the educational
system was changed according to Islamic principles. An
literacy campaign was launched in 1981. Islam is taught at
all levels, and boys and girls are taught in separate
classes. Curricula are prepared centrally. Emphasis is
placed on vocational education and foreign language
education, especially Arabic and English. The emphasis has
been on literacy campaigns in recent years. In 2003,
illiteracy was estimated at approx. 20% of the population;
15% of men and 27% of women cannot read and write.
1990 Opening opening to the West
In 1990, a five-year plan was adopted, aimed at
organizing economic life and diversifying the sources of
income for foreign exchange. But despite the political and
economic opening, the investments did not materialize. The
foreign investors did not trust the clergy. The same year,
information emerged that payments on foreign debt swallowed
12% of GDP.
The normalization of Iran-West relations was also
hampered by the violence used by groups linked to Tehran. In
April 1991, Shapur Bakhtiar's secretary was killed. He had
been Prime Minister under Shah Reza Palevi. A month later,
Bakhtiar himself went the same route.
When the Soviet Union finally fell apart in 1991-92, a
major new sphere of influence opened for Tehran. As early as
91, Tehran began opening embassies in the Caucasian and
Central Asian Muslim republics. At the same time, trade and
cultural agreements were concluded and new channels were
opened for relations with neighboring countries.
An important step in Iran's approach to the West was the
release of a dozen hostages who had been in the custody of
pro-Iranian forces in Lebanon. The release negotiations
extended throughout 1991. Yet senior officers in the over
2,000-man Revolutionary Guard sent by Iran to
Lebanon to organize Hezbolah - God's party - said
that Iran would not withdraw from the fight against the
region's biggest enemy: the United States.
At the beginning of 92, the Rafsandjani government
declared it would privatize some of the major corporations
that had been nationalized after the revolution in 79. The
initiative was part of a more coherent policy to withdraw
investment from foreigners or Iranians residing outside the
country. the country.
At the parliamentary elections on April 10, 1992, the
"moderates" who supported President Rafsandjani won a clear
victory over the more "radical" fundamentalists. In July,
the country's spiritual leader, Khamenei, launched a
campaign to "remove the Western influence". He thus collided
with President Rafsandjani's more moderate vision of
Islamism, and it ended up with the president threatening to
withdraw. Still, in June 93, Rafsandjani was re-elected with
63% of the vote. The widespread boycott of the 41% election
out of the country's 29 million voters was interpreted as an
expression of dissatisfaction with the corruption in top
leadership.
In a situation characterized by strong tensions between
the various tendencies in the leadership, in February 94,
Rafsandjani escaped unharmed from an attempted assault in
Tehran during the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the
Islamic revolution. At the same time, relations with Saudi
Arabia worsened due to disagreements over the annual
pilgrimage to Mecca - the holy city of Islam located in
Saudi Arabia. The dispute revealed the ongoing struggle
between the two countries for leadership of the world's
Muslims.
In the economic field, the expected results did not
materialize. Revenues from oil sales in the period March 94
to March 95 were $ 10.5 billion, while sales of the previous
year had brought in $ 17.7 billion. The reduced revenue
forced, among other things, government to remove the
subsidies on 23 imported products - especially food and
medicine. The consequence was that the prices of the
products increased. The following year, oil revenues totaled
$ 15 billion - less than projected and still less than two
years earlier. Inflation and the loss of purchasing power
led to increasing dissatisfaction in a large part of the
population.
In July 96, the United States tightened its sanctions on
Iran again and made its government responsible for terrorist
actions. The sharpening triggered international resistance.
At the same time, unemployment in Iran reached 10% of the
economically active population.
|
