Statements in Meeting with the Minister, Deputies, Advisors, and Directors of the Ministry of Education

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

I must express my gratitude to the dear brothers who bear a heavy burden across the country. You, the dear educators, are the humble, unassuming, and hardworking servants of the Islamic Republic system; whether you are the brothers engaged in administrative and managerial tasks, or those who are directly involved in the educational sectors and the teaching and upbringing of children. You have all knowingly and consciously taken on a heavy burden and great responsibility, and despite the existing challenges—which Dr. Najafi briefly mentioned—you are traversing this difficult path; Thanks be to God, you are doing well.

There is nothing I can say about the importance of education that you do not already know. The truth of the matter is what we all understand; namely, the future of the country is in your hands; in the hands of the education system and the teachers of the country. The best generations, those most prepared for learning and Islamic upbringing, are under your care.

A revolution is an event that occurs at a point in the world and shows miraculous effects. The survival, continuity, and blessings of this event are directly and certainly connected to the upbringing of individuals. If there are righteous and knowledgeable individuals who understand the message of the revolution, preserve it, act upon it, and pursue that path and direction, the revolution remains alive and its blessings will be realized. If, God forbid, in an environment where a revolution occurs, individuals are not properly educated, the principles of upbringing are eradicated, Islamic educational subtleties are not addressed in an Islamic environment, and in short, individuals who are both aware, compassionate, responsible, skilled, and of good spirit are not nurtured, surely the initial foundation will also be endangered and wasted.

Whatever you observe in the world where the effects of human efforts have manifested and flourished at a certain time, but later faded, disappeared, or transformed, or directions changed, is due to a lack of awareness, thought, will, insight, and spirit; that is, the essential qualities in a well-educated individual. We must cultivate this individual and instill these qualities in them; and this is in your hands; you lay the first foundation; especially in the teenage years and the beginning of youth when the youth are under the care of the education system.

In my opinion, what must be most attended to in our education system today is the revival of Islamic belief and practice in students. It should be such that if a child from a family indifferent to Islamic belief and practice comes to school and enters the environment under the control and influence of the education system; or a child comes from a family whose belief and concern for Islamic thoughts and practices are not bad, but due to the illiteracy and intellectual and psychological deficiencies of the parents, they lack the ability to influence the child, this gap must be filled here; meaning this child must be transformed into a religious person both in knowledge and practice; this should be the effort.

Of course, we all understand that an Islamic person is not only one who has Islamic beliefs and practices Islamic deeds, but Islamic ethics is also a fundamental pillar; otherwise, if we assume a person has firm Islamic beliefs and practices such as prayer and fasting, but is envious, stingy, cowardly, malevolent, spiritless, and without will, this person is not a Muslim. A Muslim must work in all three dimensions—upbringing, knowledge, and practice. Of course, in one sense, all three are actions; belief is also a type of action; it is an action of the heart. In any case, the intention is clear.

In schools, the effort must be that our children, in terms of religion—in the realm of belief, upbringing and ethics, and practical devotion—are raised as Muslims; this is the remedy and foundation of our work. Of course, the love of knowledge is part of Islamic upbringing; meaning if we want to expand Islamic ethics, this is also included. The advancement of scientific levels is also a fundamental part of your work that must be attended to. The division of sciences and finding priorities and determining which sciences the multitude of students should be more inclined towards and focused on in this period, in these five years, in these ten years, are your technical and professional issues that you are more aware of. This is the remedy for our work; meaning children must be raised with an Islamic conscience; and this is clear today.

The mention of 'cultural invasion' and the statement that you are on the front line of this invasion is true and I accept this; because cultural invasion aims to make the new generation unbelieving; both unbelieving in religion and unbelieving in revolutionary principles and the active thought that today global arrogance fears and threatens the domain of arrogant powers.

You observe today in Algeria and in Islamic regions, what clear, harsh, and hostile alignment exists against Islam; these are lessons for us. Within the Islamic revolutionary framework, we may not correctly perceive some general matters related to Islamic issues; but when we look at another region from afar, some issues become very clear and evident to us.

See what global arrogance and that aggressive and destructive culture are doing to Islamic countries and how they are aligning. In all Islamic countries, people want Islam; this truth is not specific to a particular country; if you approach any Islamic country, you will see it is the same. We are familiar with the nations; we know that the nations have a tendency towards Islam; meaning a vast majority of the nations have a longing for Islam and a longing for Islamic life within them; however, they have not found the opportunity to express it, or the opportunity has not been provided for them. Ultimately, every place has its own circumstances, and certainly, one day this opportunity will arise.

Wherever Islam emerges and people express their interest in Islam, you see how intense alignment against them is formed. Of course, we believe that the people of Algeria will eventually achieve Islam and obtain their desired goal—which is the sovereignty of Islam—and these conspiracies that are currently there and directly under the supervision of global arrogance and guided by global arrogance—especially America—will be neutralized. They are not able to resist the will of a nation for a long time; they may have a brief period of activity, but this activity cannot endure against the will and heartfelt desire of the people; provided that the people, God willing, resist, and they will.

This event is an experience and a lesson for us; 'Indeed in that is a lesson.' When in the face of a movement indicating a desire, which has not yet resulted in any external effect, but because the future is evident to them, they align and show hostility in such a way, you see how deeply they are enemies of an Islam manifested in a country—which is the Islamic Republic system—and how ready they are to use all kinds of methods to destroy it. From the beginning of the revolution until now, we have been involved in this issue; even now, in all areas—whether economic, cultural, or political—we are practically engaged. Everywhere we must equip ourselves, and this equipping, one of its most important measures is that we raise the youth, teenagers, and children of this land in an Islamic manner.

I think the headline and axis of the education system's programs in organizing books, in teacher training, in supervising the work of various education sectors, in supervising the work of educators and within schools should be to see whether Islamic thought is being transferred or not; whether human development based on Islam and the Islamization of children in these schools is taking place or not. Whatever shortcomings we have in this direction, we must strive to eliminate them.

Of course, in our country, the education system is an old structure; but not with a correct geometry from the beginning. Here, at the start, the education system, like most cultural structures, was not placed on a correct foundation; you are striving to create this correct foundation; therefore, it has many challenges; endure these challenges and consider them as jihad in the way of God. Both you should be aware that your work is jihadist, and teachers across the country—wherever they are—should pay attention to this point. Your work is truly a jihadist act and a struggle in the way of God; it also has hardships, which must be endured; although the government must also strive in its work and calculations to reduce your problems.

Regarding the elections, I will only say one sentence. All institutions are obliged to strive for the proper conduct of the elections. It is clear what a proper election is. I once said that a wrong and bad election is not only one where false and fraudulent votes are cast in the ballot boxes; it is evident that in the Islamic Republic system, with the existing supervision, such a thing is generally not possible, or not easily possible. The integrity of the election is that the election truly reflects and informs the heartfelt opinions and judgments of the people and that efforts are genuinely made to ensure that awareness reaches a level where this judgment is a correct judgment.

During the election period, there may be attempts here and there to mislead thoughts and opinions, to misrepresent truths, and to steer the election into the common channels among Westerners—where with money and financial propaganda and by buying weak-willed individuals and the like, a vote is created for someone, for a faction, for a group and party; which is common in many countries of the world—these propaganda efforts and some temptations should not exist; meaning people should truly think consciously, choose, and announce their choice; this becomes the correct Islamic form where everyone consciously pledges allegiance to the Islamic system in some way. When the election is conducted correctly, it is truly a renewed pledge that the person is making; and this is a very important and good thing. The education system, too, to the extent that it is responsible; whether officially or unofficially—because the education system, due to its presence among the people, among the youth, among families, can have a role beyond what is officially determined—should strive, God willing, for this work to be carried out in the best possible way.

This point also just came to my mind, which was not mentioned in your report. Truly, one of the very good tasks is this issue of technical and vocational schools that must be pursued; children should truly come and enter the labor market sooner and not follow the imposed false method of degree orientation; this is also one of those important things.

Once again, I thank all of you gentlemen and dear brothers; I truly know that you are working hard and striving. Today, education, textbooks, classes, and teachers are truly not comparable to the past.

God willing, may all of you gentlemen be successful and supported. May God support and assist you; we also pray that, God willing, God will increase your successes day by day.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings