Source:
RFE/RL
|
Tehran's Islamic Azad University |
Iran's parliament has rejected a university
reform bill backed by President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, RFE/RL's Radio Farda
reports.
The legislators rejected the bill on June 20 in an education debate that is
closely linked to political rivalries in the country, pitting supporters of
Ahmadinejad against the reformist camp and one of its main leaders, Ayatollah
Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
The proposed legislation dealt with the administration of Tehran's Islamic Azad
University, one of the country's largest universities. The school is closely
linked to Rafsanjani, a former president and rival of Ahmadinejad.
Ahmadinejad's bill would have replaced the current head of the university,
Abdullah Jasebi. It would also have changed the members of Azad University's
governing board.
Mir Hussein Musavi, a Rafsanjani ally who officially came second to Ahmadinejad
in last year's presidential election, had been on the Azad University board but
was removed more than one month ago as part of a political shake-up.
Musavi had already been removed from the governing boards of the Council of
Culture and Art, the Academy of Arts, the Supreme Council of Cultural
Revolution, and the Teachers Training University.
Majid Mohammadi is a New York-based expert on Iranian higher education. He told
Radio Farda that Azad University, although a private institution, is very much
affected by national politics.
"Unfortunately, Azad University is administered in an unpredictable fashion,
depending on the circumstances," Mohammadi said.
"Should [the university] need governmental support, it is counted as a
government institution, allowing the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution, a
government body, to select its board members," he said. "But when it comes to
collecting tuition from people, it acts as a private institution."
Mohammadi said that whatever changes in management might occur at the school, he
doesn't think the quality of Azad University will improve.
"Where all attention is paid to increasing the incomes and assets of the
university, there is not the slightest attention paid to [the university's overall]
quality," Mohammadi said.
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Iran: Azad University
Target of Attacks
According to a report by Parleman News, at midnight Thursday a group of more
than 20 plainclothes militia who were armed with warm and cold weapons illegally
entered the office of Board of Trustees and Founders of Islamic Azad University
and office of the Center for Advanced Science and Technology. -Parleman News
Rafsanjani: Certain
officials try to hinder Islamic Azad University's progress
Expediency Council Chairman Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has said certain
officials put obstacles in the way of the Islamic Azad University's progress.
Islamic Azad University is a private chain of universities in Iran which was
founded in 1982. -MNA
Iran's Azad University,
Coming Battleground Against Rafsanjani
As Azad University's new regulations, which require that its president be
elected every four years, came into force, pro-government media have launched a
verbal attack on its current and long-time president Abdollah Jasbi, who is also
a leader of the conservative Motalefe Islami party while also being a close ally
of Hashemi Rafsanjani -Nazanin Kamdar, Rooz Online
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