Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Jurisprudence, Al-Mustafa University, Qom, Iran
2
Professor in Islamic Seminaries, Qom, Iran
Abstract
Introduction: One of the problems the educational system in Iran faces is the commercialization of education. This term can be interpreted in two ways: (a) commercialization as payment for services (education): In this sense, spending money to acquire knowledge is a common practice, aligned with the life of wise people, and is considered legitimate. Typically, families invest financially in their children’s education, which aligns with the Islamic understanding of commercialization. (b) commercialization as a government policy leading to marketization: This interpretation is rooted in liberal foundations that seek to impose free-market models on the educational system. According to the free-market logic in liberal economics, money is the criterion for accessing better facilities and a better life. In contrast, lack of money equates to the unworthiness of a better life. The dominance of this logic in the educational system means that access to education is based on families' financial capability, thereby depriving lower-income groups of their right to education and public schooling. This commercialization conflicts with educational justice, depriving students of lower-income families, and weakening the public education system. This results in social, cultural, and economic class divisions in the long term.
Objective: The present study addresses this issue from a jurisprudential perspective, deriving the Islamic legal ruling on spending for education and the liberal interpretation of commercialization in education.
Method: The research method employed in this study is qualitative, utilizing the traditional Islamic research method known as ijtihad (jurisprudential reasoning). The data collection tool is library research. In this method, after clarifying the concept of the subject, and elucidating its dimensions, it is presented to the Quranic verses, hadiths, rational arguments, and certain jurisprudential principles. Their implications are analyzed and evaluated, and finally, the jurisprudential ruling on the research topic is derived from the collective concepts. The generality of the evidence was used to deduce the ruling on spending money for education, and overall, the permissibility ruling was inferred. To determine the commercialization of education in the liberal sense, in addition to this evidence, some principles of the Constitution, governmental and authoritative evidence, and its political and social consequences (deprivation of middle and lower classes and exceptional talents from free public education, class disparity) were considered. The ruling of its undesirability was derived from their totality, although the ruling of its prohibition also does not seem unlikely.
Findings: The results indicate the permissibility of spending money on education (earning income in the Islamic sense). In addition, the incompatibility of the liberal commercialization of education with educational justice, human dignity, and the right to free education for students was established. Furthermore, based on secondary rules and considering the negative consequences of the liberal commercialization of education, its undesirability or even prohibition was proven. The government is obligated regarding education because education is a necessary prelude to maintaining the system and ensuring social justice. Since neglecting education and providing essential and sufficient education for all the strata of society leads to chaos and disruption in our country, its prohibition is ruled.
Conclusion: In conclusion, the following points can be derived from the discussions presented in this study:
Receiving payment for teaching is considered permissible both rationally and religiously, aligning with rational and religious practices. This ruling implies the permissibility of paying wages by the educational agent, which becomes necessary in some cases, especially when neglecting a child’s education could lead to misguidance.
The Islamic government has a collective obligation (al-wājīb al-kifā’ī) towards public education. This ruling necessitates organizing the educational system, expanding educational centers, providing infrastructure, and human resources, supporting teachers financially, and so on.
While all educational officials are responsible for public education, it is particularly incumbent upon the Islamic government to invest in public education according to its capacity and financial strength. If government negligence or failure harms the process of achieving public education, the obligation of the government to fund education for students is emphasized.
Privatization of education, leading to its liberal commercialization, contradicts educational justice. Given its negative consequences and long-term adverse effects on the future of our country, it can be ruled as prohibited from an educational jurisprudence perspective.
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