{"id":2985,"date":"2012-05-02T17:09:09","date_gmt":"2012-05-02T07:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stumblingpast.wordpress.com\/?p=2985"},"modified":"2022-08-04T00:23:39","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T00:23:39","slug":"no-one-can-ban-me-from-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stumblingpast.com\/2012\/05\/02\/no-one-can-ban-me-from-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"“No-one can ban me from learning”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Imprisoned in Iran for working at the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Imagine that you, and all those who are like you, are forbidden by the government to undertake further education after finishing school.\u00a0 Perhaps you did well at school, but once your identity became known to your teachers they told you that it was a shame – why don’t you change?\u00a0 You see your friends go onto university – some with school results that were not as good as yours.\u00a0 They commence a new life, talking about what they would do in the future.\u00a0 Gradually their lives become very separate from yours.<\/p>\n

What do you do in these circumstances?\u00a0 The government have jailed your community’s leaders on spurious charges that human rights organisations and parliaments around the world have condemned.\u00a0 Many other members of your community have been arrested on dubious charges, released on payment of exorbitant bail, and live with the knowledge that any time, anywhere, they may be re-arrested. Your community’s members are banned from government employment, essential business licences are hard to come by.\u00a0 Your community’s children are harassed by teachers at school, cemeteries used by your community are desecrated, the media is filled with messages of hate towards your community.\u00a0 This has been occurring for over 30 years.<\/p>\n

You have left school, are banned from further education and are a member of a persecuted community.\u00a0 What do you do?<\/p>\n

This is the situation that faces the Baha’is in Iran.\u00a0 They live out their lives as best they can under constant pressure from their government.\u00a0 This is their country, they want to stay, they want to contribute.\u00a0 This is difficult when the Iranian government’s policy clearly states, “[t]he Government’s dealing with them must be in such a way that their progress and development are blocked.” (A Faith Denied, p. 49).<\/p>\n

Despite all these impediments, the Baha’is of Iran have done something extraordinary.<\/p>\n

It is called the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education.<\/p>\n

With no prospect of higher education for an entire generation of Baha’i youth, the Baha’is have responded by creating their own educational organisation.\u00a0 Six years after the government first fired Baha’i academics from the nations universities and banned Baha’is from enrolling in higher education courses in Iran, the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education was created in 1987.\u00a0 There were no grand announcements or ceremonies accompanying the foundation of the Institute.\u00a0 It had to operate quietly in a nation whose government was hostile to the educational advancement of the country’s Baha’is (A Faith Denied, p. 50).<\/p>\n

The new Institute was staffed by academics who had been fired from Iran’s universities and other Baha’is working in the private sector.\u00a0 Its students were a few Baha’i youth.\u00a0 From this tenuous start it has now grown into a significant organisation with 475 academic and administrative staff, a first year cohort of around 450, 17 undergraduate degrees and 10 graduate courses (BIHE – Quick Facts<\/a>). The Institute’s website<\/a> reveals a flourishing educational organisation with the kind of courses that any university around the world would offer.<\/p>\n

The Baha’i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) is an internationally recognised institution.\u00a0 While Iran does not recognised the degrees it grants, over seventy universities in North America, Europe, Australia and India have recognised its degrees and accepted BIHE students for post-graduate courses. Professors from many universities around the world volunteer for the Institute helping to develop, implement and assist with the delivery of its courses.\u00a0 In Australia the University of Wollongong and the University of Technology, Sydney are assisting the Institute. (BIHE – Quick Facts<\/a>, Sydney Morning Herald 27\/6\/2011<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The Baha’i Institute for Higher Education is a tremendous achievement from a population living under severe restrictions. Any Iranian who contributes to the work of the Institute is aware that it could be attacked at any time.\u00a0 Care has been taken to restrict the curriculum to subjects that would not transgress, or be seen to transgress, Iranian laws, but still the life and progress of the Institution is uncertain (Iran’s Outcast Religion<\/a>).\u00a0 In 1998 over 500 homes and offices were raided by government security officials, people involved with BIHE were arrested, Institute material was confiscated.\u00a0 (New York Times 29\/10\/1998<\/a>). In 2001 and 2002 authorities closed classrooms, took exam papers during exams and harassed staff (A Faith Denied, p. 50).\u00a0 Yet the Baha’is were not deterred.\u00a0 The Institute continued its operations.\u00a0 The students and academics work in constant fear of raids, confiscation and arrests.\u00a0 In this trailer for a documentary about BIHE, Education Under Fire<\/a>, those who worked at BIHE explain some of the conditions under which they worked:<\/p>\n