Investigating the Controversy Over the 2030 Education Document in Parliament

The UNESCO educational document was one of the controversial issues in the Iranian presidential election and a pretext for attacking and accusing the government. Rouhani says this “conspiracy” will not go unpunished, and the Minister of Intelligence is set to go to parliament to pursue the accusations.

During the election campaign for the 12th presidential term, a number of media outlets affiliated with fundamentalists, especially supporters of Ebrahim Raisi, launched extensive propaganda against the government under the pretext of implementing the UNESCO Education 2030 Framework for Action.

In announcements and bulletins that were distributed in cities and villages and also published in cyberspace, it was claimed that by implementing this document, children would be taught masturbation methods and homosexuality would be promoted among them.

Fatemeh Saeedi, a member of the board of directors of the Islamic Consultative Assembly's Education and Research Commission, says that the Minister of Intelligence has been invited to appear in the parliament "to uncover the root of the accusations related to the 2030 Agenda."

Maindeh Tehran in the parliament and a member of the Omid faction's board of directors wrote in a note published on his Telegram channel on Friday, June 25: "The creators of these lies directly subjected more than a million teachers to the most heinous accusations; they distributed pamphlets whose content was completely false, yet the people were ultimately not deceived by these lies."

Saeedi says that during the election period, “we observed many immoral acts,” each of which can be pursued in its own right. He noted that he will pursue “the accusations against teachers” to the end.

President Hassan Rouhani and his First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri have repeatedly accused their opponents of lying about this educational document in speeches and election debates.

A day before the elections, Jahangiri wrote in a statement about the propaganda against this educational document: "Some people have spread widespread and extremely false rumors among the country's religious and zealous community, which will have irreparable consequences and dangers for the country's system and social capital."

Referring to the "continuation of poisonous rumors and destructive actions," which he said were based on fake and incorrect information, the First Vice President called these advertisements "clear evidence of spreading obscenity and slander against the country and the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran, insulting committed teachers and the country's education and training, and disturbing public opinion."

The UNESCO educational document emphasizes issues such as environmental protection education, gender equality, elimination of discrimination against minorities, citizenship rights, and the need to provide equal social opportunities for women and men.

Giving false information to Khamenei?

Shortly before the elections, the Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei, strongly opposed the UNESCO educational document in a meeting with a group of educators, saying that Iran "will not be burdened by such documents."

In one of his election speeches, Hassan Rouhani attributed Khamenei's reaction to incorrect information he had been given about UNESCO's educational recommendations and how they were implemented in various countries.

The initial draft of the "Education 2030 Framework for Action" was presented to the World Education Forum in Incheon, South Korea in June 2015, and its final text was agreed upon in November of the same year at the World Education High-Level Meeting on Education, on the sidelines of the 38th session of the UNESCO General Conference.

Ali Asghar Fani, the then Minister of Education, announced at the same meeting: "The Islamic Republic of Iran does not consider itself committed to parts of the "Education 2030 Framework for Action" that are interpreted and interpreted in any way in conflict with national regulations and priorities, religious beliefs, and cultural values ​​of Iranian society."

Rouhani: I will not ignore this conspiracy

After winning the presidential election, Hassan Rouhani called the propaganda against the UNESCO educational document a conspiracy and said: "They went to great lengths to spray poison, saying that Islam had been lost and that morality was being violated in all our schools. I forgave everyone who slandered, insulted, and gossiped, but I will not forgive this 2030 conspiracy."

The president, by asking his opponents, "Why did you insult our teachers and students?", made it clear that he would pursue this issue even until the end of the 12th administration.

Thus, the invitation of the Minister of Information, Mahmoud Alavi, to appear before the Parliament's Education Committee should be welcomed by the government.

As the Tehran representative wrote on his Telegram channel, the Minister of Intelligence has been invited to the parliament to inform representatives "of the latest actions of security institutions" to uncover the roots of slander and the spread of false news about the UNESCO educational document.

Source: DW