آمنه شاهمرادی

During Reza Shah's reign, the policies of centralization, authoritarian modernity, and national unity led to reforms in the field of education. This period is considered as an important period in the history of Iran due to the efforts leading the society towards modern education in the shadow of nationalism and centralism. The present article seeks to answer this question, "What effects did the nationalist and centralist policies of Reza Shah era have on the situation of schools of religious minorities (Armenians, Zoroastrians and Jews)?" This work implemented a descriptive-analytical method and relied on the available documents. At that time, religious minority schools were affected by these two policies. In some educational programs, schools activities were not in line with the new educational policy, and there was resistance from the minority community, which challenged the schools. The findings of this study show that education among religious minorities was affected by the new changes in terms of Persian language teaching, curriculum, school names, holidays and extracurricular activities. The closure for some schools was permanent and their students merged into public schools, and for some schools, it was temporary (one or more months) until they were required to implement the ministry programs. The reason for their resistance to the new educational policy was the tendency towards educational independence and the fear of losing their identity, and the consequence was the relative control of the government and the dissatisfaction of the minorities with the rule of the time.

Reza Shahchr('39')s era may be considered a turning point in the situation of the Iranian Jews. With the advent of Reza Shah, the social life of the Jews changed. After the victory of the constitution, according to the principle of equality enshrined in the constitution, all Iranians, regardless of their religion, were equal before the law, and this was an important issue in bringing about change in the layers of Iranian society, especially minorities. With a descriptive-analytical method and based on documents, the present study seeks to answer the question that what effect did Reza Shahchr('39')s reforms and actions have on the social, economic and cultural situation of the Jews? The result of this study shows that Reza Shahchr('39')s actions had positive and negative consequences in the process of modernization for the Jews. Reza Shahchr('39')s actions made it possible to move the classes of the Jewish community from the urban lower to the middle class. During this period, with relative freedom, the economic, social and cultural situation of the Jews changed.