2030 Education Agenda Ignoring Cultural Values of Countries: Iranian FM
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The foreign minister of Iran deplored the UN-devised global education agenda, known as Education 2030, for ignoring cultural identity and facts in various countries.
Director of the UNESCO Cluster Office in Tehran Golda El-Khoury met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian on Tuesday at the beginning of her tenure in Iran.
Hailing the close cooperation between Iran and UNESCO in different areas, such as the process of defining elements as cultural heritage, Amirabdollahian highlighted the “exemplary capabilities” of Iran in education, higher education and technology, specifically the programs involving women.
He noted that the Education 2030 document was supposed to contribute to global unity in the education sphere, but has caused problems for countries by ignoring their cultural identity and facts.
“Therefore, the Islamic Republic of Iran views that document on the basis of its own domestic and cultural regulations,” the foreign minister added.
For her part, El-Khoury of Lebanon said she will make her utmost to elevate the position of the UNESCO cluster office.
In June 2017, Iran’s Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution decided that Tehran should back out of the Education 2030, citing the country’s own detailed documents in the field of education.
The national 'Document on Fundamental Transformation of Education' has been defined as the only grand initiative for educational programs in Iran.
The decision came after Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei strongly criticized the cabinet’s adoption of the Education 2030, saying documents founded on “corrupt and devastating Western lifestyle” are unacceptable in Islamic Iran.
“This is the Islamic Republic of Iran, and in this country, Islam and the Quran are the base. It is not a place for infiltration of the flawed, devastating and corrupt Western lifestyle,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in May 2017.
“Signing that document (Education 2030) and its silent implementation is certainly not allowed, and this has been announced to the organizations in charge,” the Leader noted, adding that a “so-called international organization under the influence of big powers” has no right to make decisions for different nations with various histories, cultures and civilizations.
Ayatollah Khamenei had also called on the officials to announce explicitly that “the Islamic Republic of Iran has (its own) grand documents in the field of education, and does not need such a document.”
The Education 2030 is part of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
