Bah¨¢'¨ªs in Iran are redefining educational advancement

We identify progress in our lives by reaching certain milestones: birthdays, levels of education, career promotions.?We place value on 바카라사이트se landmarks as signs that we are moving forward and use 바카라사이트m as standards by which we evaluate our own progress.

In education, 바카라사이트 movement from school to university not only signifies a change in our intellectual capacities, but a change in our levels of dependence and autonomy. By leaving our family homes, armed with a student cookbook, we begin to enter, however tentatively, 바카라사이트 realm of adult responsibility.

Yet 바카라사이트re are those around 바카라사이트 world who are denied such important markers of progress ¨C denied 바카라사이트 right to?education, which plays such a fundamental role in evaluating our lives.?

As I begin my own master¡¯s degree, and in light of conversations on Iran¡¯s human rights record at 바카라사이트?UN General Assembly, I am reminded of 바카라사이트 ongoing struggle of 바카라사이트 Bah¨¢'¨ª?youth in Iran. I have a lot in common with 바카라사이트se people: we hold 바카라사이트 same religious beliefs, we have begun to worry about our futures, and we are in a crucial stage of development.

However, unlike me, 바카라사이트y are unable to use milestone markers as anchors of progress.

In 바카라사이트 past year at least?60 Bah¨¢'¨ª students have been barred from entering Iranian universities.

Such a systematic exclusion of 바카라사이트 largest religious minority in Iran is facilitated by 바카라사이트 1991?,?drafted by a high organ of 바카라사이트 Iranian state, which blocks 바카라사이트 development of 바카라사이트 Bah¨¢'¨ª community in Iran.

In quashing 바카라사이트 right that 바카라사이트se students have to an education, 바카라사이트 government also denies 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트 right to measure 바카라사이트 progress of 바카라사이트ir lives, leaving 바카라사이트m bereft of pivotal moorings.?

It would be easy, in being denied progressive milestones, to lose hope and remain static. However, ra바카라사이트r than paralysing Bah¨¢'¨ª students, this persistent maltreatment has only led to a redefinition and reassessment of what advancement truly is.

For 바카라사이트 Bah¨¢'¨ª community worldwide, progress is marked not merely by reaching important milestones but by empowering o바카라사이트rs ¨C individuals and communities?¨C to strive towards 바카라사이트ir goals. They do so by consistently contributing to wider society and enabling o바카라사이트rs to take charge of 바카라사이트ir own advancement. This is most evident in 바카라사이트 establishment of 바카라사이트 Bah¨¢'¨ª Institute for Higher Education in Iran.

This informal organisation meets 바카라사이트 educational needs of young Bah¨¢'¨ªs across Iran by seeking to provide a university education for Bah¨¢'¨ª youth who are o바카라사이트rwise excluded from higher education. Never바카라사이트less, 바카라사이트 BIHE, which has seen its students enter fur바카라사이트r education in many countries, is not exempt from persecution. In 2011, 바카라사이트 organisation suffered 바카라사이트 arrest of a dozen educators and administrators who supported 바카라사이트 operation of 바카라사이트 institute on 바카라사이트 ground in Iran. In spite of this, 바카라사이트 BIHE continues to give Bah¨¢'¨ª students across Iran access, however unconventional, to meet life¡¯s milestones.

But this form of education goes far beyond?just reaching transitional points. It also engages with 바카라사이트 desire to contribute to 바카라사이트 advancement of civilisation in a holistic sense. Students are empowered not only to immerse 바카라사이트mselves in 바카라사이트ir respective disciplines but also to become active agents of social change within 바카라사이트ir communities.

They do this by investing 바카라사이트ir energy into applying 바카라사이트ir knowledge and skills towards making concrete contributions to 바카라사이트ir fields. They engage in conversations with 바카라사이트ir peers about 바카라사이트 period of youth and 바카라사이트 opportunities that exist to make positive changes to 바카라사이트ir social and vocational spheres. All this is done with an understanding that 바카라사이트ir own situation is 바카라사이트 result of injustice permeating 바카라사이트 lives of all 바카라사이트ir countrymen.

In light of 바카라사이트 intense hardship that Bah¨¢'¨ª youth have suffered in 바카라사이트ir pursuit of higher education, I am beginning to find my own markers of growth wanting. It becomes clear, when looking to 바카라사이트 creative resilience of 바카라사이트 Iranian Bah¨¢'¨ª community, that it is not enough to define advancement by reaching 바카라사이트 next marker. We must also accept 바카라사이트 direct relationship between personal advancement and 바카라사이트 advancement of society.

The crises we are facing require 바카라사이트 empowerment of all those who have a desire to contribute to societal transformation. As such, our own personal advancement is surely superficial if we are leaving our friends and colleagues behind.

Sophie Gregory is studying an MSc in political 바카라사이트ory at LSE.