Iran Bans English From Primary Schools
Iran's government has banned English from primary school classrooms in an attempt to fight Western influences. The country has been blaming the West for protests and demonstrations that have been staged throughout the country in the past months.
Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, has repeatedly blamed the spread of English in schools for destabilizing his country. Authorities say that teaching English at an early age makes it possible for pupils to adopt the culture of Western societies. They state that primary education is the basis of Iranian culture and should be free of Western values.
English language lessons generally start in middle schools, with students aged between 12 and 14. Recently, however, more and more primary schools have been offering English lessons. It has also spread to some of the country's nursery schools too.
The new ban only applies to the first years of education, where all lessons will be in Persian, the country's official language.
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Words
- adopt = here: to use; take on; let something into your country
- apply = here: where the ban is in effect
- attempt = try to do something
- authorities = government organisations that have the power to decide things
- ban = forbid; not allow
- blame = to say or think that you are responsible for something bad that has happened
- destabilize = when a government has problems controlling events that happen there
- generally = normally
- government = the people who rule a country
- influence = power to affect the way something changes or develops
- nursery school = kindergarten; school for children between 3 and 5 or 6
- official language = the language that all the people in a country speak
- primary school = the first years of education; usually between 5 and 11
- recently = a short time ago
- repeatedly = over and over again
- society = the way people live in a country
- spread = when something moves from one place to another
- stage = organize
- supreme = highest
- throughout = all across the country
- values = the things you believe in