Posted: 17 Mar 2009 03:42 AM PDT
Students at Durham University have passed a motion expressing their concern for young Bahá'ís in Iran who are excluded from higher education.
The motion - passed last night by Durham's Student Union (DSU) - affirmed that all people should have equal access to higher education on the basis of merit.
Since 1979, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has systematically sought to deprive members of the Bahá'í Faith of access to higher education. Countless young Bahá'í's have been refused entry to universities and colleges. Others already studying have been expelled on the basis of their religion.
The motion cited articles of the Student Union's Standing Orders that affirm its commitment to equal opportunities and opposition of all forms of discrimination, including on the basis of religion and nationality.
It was also noted that Durham University recruits students from Iran. "Bahá'í students barred from university in Iran are ipso facto barred from admission to Durham University," the motion stated. The DSU mandated its Education and Welfare Officer to raise the matter with the University's administration.
The DSU also resolved to mandate its President to write to the Iranian embassy in London, the Foreign Secretary David Milliband and Durham MP Roberta Blackman-Woods. The National Union of Students is also to be informed of the motion and requested to support the national "Closed Doors" campaign for access to higher education for Bahá'í students.
Durham University is England's third oldest - after Oxford and Cambridge. More than 3000 international students from over 120 countries currently study in Durham.
From http://www.charlatan.ca/:
Writing for the right to education
by Marlee Wasser
When so many lives are affected by tragedies such as natural disasters, epidemics and terrorism, the right to education is not always a cause people regard with extreme concern in today’s world.
But for the people of the Bahá’í faith living in Iran — who since 1979 have been suffering from their government’s deliberate efforts to prevent them from attending post-secondary schools — the right to education is an issue as important as any.
And even for many students in Canada, such as Sam Benoit, a second year Carleton student, the struggle of the Bahá’í people to pursue higher education in Iran is a cause deserving recognition and response.
“It’s not like they’re being imprisoned or anything or hanged, although they have been,” says Benoit. “But if you consider the cons of denying education to an entire group in your society, it’s a pretty clever strategy to impoverish them.”
International outcries within the last few decades put a halt to most of the Iranian government’s heinous treatment toward the Bahá’ís.
Previously, Bahá’í peoples suffered from acts of persecution such as arbitrary executions, imprisonment, confiscation of property and severe restrictions on freedom of religious practice and worship. Today, the Islamic government’s efforts in Iran to deny the Bahá’ís access to post-secondary education remain as their final attempt to destroy the Bahá’í community.
Not only does the Iranian government prevent them from enrolling in recognized Iranian universities and colleges, they have also been making great efforts to close establishments of Bahá’ís who have started their own institutions of higher learning.
Tahirih Naylor, a representative for the office of governmental relations for the Bahá’í Community of Canada, points at what happened to the Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education, an underground university for the Bahá’í in Iran. In 1998, 36 Bahá’í professors were arrested and had all their materials confiscated when the institution was raided.
“Iran won’t recognize the credits that students receive there,” Naylor says. “But they’re supported by different North American universities.”
“Right here at Carleton there a lot of students from that underground university,” says Benoit.
“Through the grace of the university [Carleton] the credits they received [in Iran] are being recognized. A lot of them are going to go back and teach at this university to make sure it continues.”
As chair of the Campus Association for Bahá’í Studies, Benoit has played an important role at Carleton in leading the Closed Doors campaign, an international endeavour aiming to raise awareness about the situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran and encourage members of the academic community to take action by writing letters to government leaders, United Nations officials and non-governmental organizations.
Benoit says he has been working hard — along with about 30 other Carleton students involved with the campaign — to “describe the situation to other people” and encourage students, student groups and faculty members to write letters.
“We’ve been encouraging students who are members of our club to approach their professors in their own departments and present them with information,” Benoit says. He adds, “the lecture [in November] was part of that [. . .] a way to inform the student body.”
The Campus Association for Bahá’í Studies at both Carleton and the University of Ottawa joined forces to organize a presentation Nov. 17 by human rights expert Dr. Paym Akhavan, which was held at Carleton.
Benoit says a headcount revealed about 105 people attended the lecture, most of whom were students.
“It was quite effective, except that I don’t think it attracted faculty,” he says. “[Getting students involved is] something that we have to work on.”
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment