Analysis of Modernization of the Education System in the Sixties and Early Seventies in Iran through Investigation of the Historical and Educational Significance of the Ramsar ‘Educational Revolution’ Conferences

The objective of modernization of the education system in the Qajar’s and the Pahlavi’s periods were twofold: to acquaint their citizens with modern sciences and train skilled scholars. The sixties and the early seventies saw the culmination of the modernization of the education system in Iran. Due to the national and international necessity of such modernization, the Pahlavi government made the educational modernization as one of its prioritized missions. The mission alongside with its developmental programs was heavily supported and endorsed by the US government. Furthermore, the steep increase of oil prices helped the Pahlavi government to provide the necessary financial backing for the mission and its related programs. After finding the cultural and financial backings, the government started passing and implementing some laws and regulations so that the mission can find its legal ground as well. Some of these laws and regulation had already been included in the Shah’s White Revolution as the revolution’s principles and guidelines and as result, the government held a number of annual conferences to prepare some reports and follow ups on how these principles and consequently the necessary laws and regulations for the mission were being observed and developed. Held between 1968 and 1976, the series of these conferences was called "Ramsar Educational Revolution". Through a descriptive-analytical methodology, the present study aims to analyze the grounds and objectives of the Pahlavi’s modernization of the education system. The study also investigates the resolutions of the Ramsar conferences. The findings of the study suggest that the prime objective of modernization of the education system was to compensate the obsolete nature of Iran’s education system till that time, to supply the country with the skilled manpower and strengthen the legitimacy of the Pahlavi Government. Despite the expansion of the education system in the sixties and the seventies, there were wide ruptures and discrepancies between the aforementioned objectives, the adopted implemental measures and realities of Iran’s contemporary society.