Essay on Hem Mihan Newspaper September 18, 2023 -
The original text is in Persian and the following translation was done by Ai.
With the fundamental changes that have occurred in the social system and value system of a significant part of Iranian society today, and at the same time with all kinds of complexities that are typically considered unnecessary pressures for the emerging generation, a big question is being raised in the country today; immigration. At first glance, it can be said that this is a global and normal phenomenon and, more than anything, depends on the individual's desire and circumstances. However, what is really at stake is not a matter of taking a position on a small matter, but rather a matter of macro-analysis and planning.
Immigration from Iran has a long history, but if we want to focus on the last few decades, it can be considered more of a reaction to the obstacles that a part of society sees on its way to providing a desirable and suitable life. At the same time, these migrations are often accompanied by a false sense of success or prominence, as a person who has not necessarily had many successes in his life history sees himself in the position of an elite for whom "the ceiling of the country was too short," and this, of course, leads to his subsequent frustration without return. The anger resulting from this frustration and the suspension of no return can be seen in many social and media actions around him.
At the same time, it should be kept in mind that at least the "desire to migrate" has reached the lower middle classes (in terms of education and wealth) and it is no longer only the expected segments of society that express such a desire, but this "struggle" can be observed in all occupational, income, age, and educational strata.
It cannot be hidden that this phenomenon has become so widespread today that if someone has the opportunity to emigrate and has not done so, they must defend and justify their decision in front of society, and most of the audience looks at their arguments with skepticism or thinks that they are not honest or are wrong; because immigration is initially considered the result of rational calculations about the elements of life and its non-existence requires strong arguments. With the publication of an interview conducted with the winners of this year's national university entrance exam on this subject, and almost all of the interviewees considered immigration to be obvious, the debate about what to do with this desire and using the country's higher education opportunities as a launching pad has intensified: the debate is mainly between two extreme views, one of which I call the "irresponsible" view and the other the "totalitarian" view; One believes that “it is obvious that an individual should act and be content with maximizing his own interests” and the other believes that “the educational opportunities of the country should not be made available to such a lifestyle and outlook so that resources are not wasted.”
When a phenomenon that is painful enough in itself becomes so obvious and normative, it cannot be simply dealt with with a confrontational view. It cannot be denied that, above all, the lack of perspective has been able to create such a desire with this scope. But on the other hand, it must be asked whether perspective is a matter that must exist and be given or whether it must be constructed by society itself? If it is undesirable, should we abandon it and turn to using the product of the work of others (in this case, other societies) or does social responsibility require us to strive for reform?
It is noteworthy that both of the aforementioned maximalist views ultimately reach the same conclusion; Encouraging a significant number of young people to emigrate, who may have a similar lifestyle: one with the intention of quick recovery and the other probably with the motive of emptying the social arena for himself and his companions. However, this atmosphere, which has brought with it a sense of suspense and a kind of loss, has not improved the situation of either of them; whether those who have left due to not belonging to the host society still live by the clock of their own country and are filled with expectation and have lost their identity, passion and role-playing, or those who, by staying in the country, either feel confined and unmotivated or self-sacrificing and demanding.
However, from a balanced and rational perspective on the issue, both views are irresponsible and totalitarian, which is harmful and therefore reveals the need to rethink the categories that have led to the current situation; Neither is the country's facilities suitable for use as a springboard and a source of human resources for other countries, nor is it permissible to keep people behind all doors and not to share job and social opportunities among all intellectual groups through a totalitarian and selective approach. Both of these are equally far from expediency and rationality in running the country's affairs. Both the distribution of opportunities should be done regardless of the lifestyle and type of thinking of the individual, and the distribution of responsibilities should be proportional to the use of facilities.
However, in order to correct this flawed duality, which has created a violent and bipolar aspect among the members of society more than anything else, a fundamental revision must be made in one axis, and that is the structure of secondary education, higher education, and postgraduate education in the country.
The fact is that due to the large number of people born in the 1980s in the country and the fact that the country was unable to absorb all of them at the time of their re-entry and their need for employment, the quantitative and non-qualitative capacity of higher education and even postgraduate education in the country increased in order to postpone the crisis and manage and contain its impact. Now, with the replacement of those born in the following decades, who are fewer in number, a significant part of the aforementioned capacities has been left empty. On the other hand, many of those who sat on these non-qualitative seats of higher education and postgraduate education are today deprived of quality employment in a related job. On the other hand, the qualitatively educated (i.e. graduates of mother universities and first-rate universities) have been the subject of immigration more than any other category. As far as we can tell, the graduates of the mother universities, in particular, do not become active workers in the country to a great extent.
If we go half a step back, we reach the prominent schools, and at the top of them are the schools of brilliant talents, which were formed at the beginning of the construction period with the idea of training excellent experts and managers in the country from the beginning of the middle school education. Despite having achieved more than expected achievements in the educational and training axis, this idea was not even minimally fruitful in benefiting the country as a workforce. So that today, the graduates of these schools in New York, Toronto and Boston are probably no less than those in Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan. This idea remained for two reasons; one is that in these schools and later in the mother universities, they gave students everything except passion and a sense of responsibility. The second reason was that this idea was cut off from the mid-1980s; With the beginning of the ninth government, the policy of employing quality specialists trained by top schools and universities was openly abandoned and replaced by employing people with a specific view (in line with the government). Like many other things, SAMPAD schools and top universities were also seen as a commodity for sale, and their quantitative development and decline in quality, along with receiving funds for the sake of inauthentic pleasure, using a label that had been earned over decades and through sweat and tears, were put on the agenda.
This frustration, in addition to other issues such as sanctions, economic stagnation, and the country's isolation in the international environment, increased its scope. So much so that today, few people deny that we in the country are facing a fundamental inefficiency problem in the country's administration.
In Sampad schools and Sharif, Tehran and Amirkabir universities, we spent several times the average per capita education in the country for each student to train engineers, doctors, petrochemical and automotive managers, university professors, diplomats and quality ministers for our country, not experts or senior experts for other countries. Both of the above maximalist views are to blame for breaking this chain; neither should a graduate consider himself free from responsibility and pack his bags for a trip after receiving all these expensive facilities for free, nor should the other side set these aside with selective views, ignore them and, by placing ineffective, irrelevant and expired filters, give the followers of a particular intellectual movement and lifestyle a chance for the country's essential jobs with any quality and efficiency. Although we may be each other's staunch opponents on the surface, we are partners and partners in this disaster that has arisen in the country's administration.
Positive suggestions:
It is not too late to correct this. It seems that the enthusiasm and quality of the past are less visible in students and pupils, but the name and quality of the country's main universities have not yet been lost. That is why the names of top universities can still be used as a launching pad for first-class universities or job opportunities in the world. To prevent this, maintain quality and make the country's executive body more efficient during the coming decade, the country's secondary, higher and postgraduate education needs assessment should be conducted again using the national survey method. In this regard, of course, first-class university professors should be used, not the government body, which will reproduce itself and all its qualities again. The need for secondary, higher and supplementary education is categorized into three basic dimensions: educational, research and practical: training teachers, lecturers and university professors (educational), university researchers, research institutes, think tanks, industrial and other researchers (research), and finally the main body, that is, those who should be employed in administrative affairs; from simple workers to ambassadors and ministers.
It seems that for the first two categories, the main universities of the country have sufficient capacity. For example, to train history teachers, historians and history professors, there is no need for a history department in all third, fourth and... level universities in the country. A history graduate from a fourth-rate university will almost certainly not be able to teach history, become a historian, or have the resources to become a history professor, and will therefore likely end up in a completely unrelated job, essentially wasting the money he spent on his university education.
As for the executive body, at the top management and undergraduate and graduate levels, the main universities (state universities in provincial centers, and at the top of them, the parent universities) still have sufficient capacity, and it is assumed that all social and economic levels of society can compete to enter them.
Essay on Hem Mihan Newspaper September 18, 2023
The original text is in Persian and the following translation was done by Ai.
But what makes up the main body of work in countries is the professional graduate or technician. In a general sense, every person who is working needs to see professional courses. Even if without seeing the course, he is already doing the same work with low quality and high cost.
If the aforementioned needs assessment is carried out with sufficient accuracy and comprehensiveness, the facilities of universities and higher education centers of the second level and below can be allocated to the country's technical and vocational organization or something similar with a new definition, which can be used to train professional interns in real and relevant jobs: from factory workers and technicians to everyday technical and professional tasks such as carpentry, masonry, painting, plumbing, sales, taxi driving, etc., which are currently being performed either with bachelor's degrees from several degree universities and without the theoretical knowledge of a real expert, and of course they feel very frustrated or without any education, they perform the work with minimal quality and at an exorbitant cost.
This appropriate distribution of resources, under which experts, teachers, researchers, and professors are produced with sufficient strength and only at a very high quality level, alongside professional technicians with diplomas and post-diplomas who have only studied the courses related to that specific profession and its required aspects, is both wise and fair.
At the same time, it is emphasized again that for this purpose, selective views should be abandoned for the employment of ordinary people in the country's executive body and the foundation should be laid on true justice, unless some kind of incompetence is proven by the country's judicial authorities, which is ruled out in the case of the general public. In this case, graduates of each level can be made to owe the country's education system a debt in proportion to the actual cost spent on their education to date, preventing the country's resources from being used as a launching pad for going abroad. At the same time, resources obtained from their work in the country's economic environment can be used to provide funding for individuals undergoing supplementary education in the manner of developed countries.
Organizing the country's higher education and, as a result, preventing the waste of its resources is completely possible and beneficial; provided that all aspects are observed.
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