There is a new effort for educational equality in Iran by using high-tech QR codes.
A movement called “Can You Solve This?” put Quick Response (QR) codes on stickers, t-shirts and posters, according to the Mideast Youth organization. The codes are read by smartphones.
“You really need to stand out to make an impact on students, and this really appeals to our audience without saying ‘sign this’ and ‘sign that,’” a campaign organizer, Esra’a Al Shafei of Bahrain, was quoted by Mashable.
The new movement says the Iranian regime discriminates against many students, particularly those who follow the Baha’i Faith, a group of 300,000 people. The students find they can’t register for classes, take exams or are not accepted at universities, Mashable said.
The Baha’i Higher Education Institute, an online school set up by Baha’i officials for excluded students, was closed in May, Mashable added.
The Iranian regime also arrested dozens of the institute’s staff, media reports said.
“Apart from frequent house raids, arrests and violence, this is another means of keeping the Baha’i community marginalized and suffocated in Iran,” according to MideastYouth.com.
The seat of the Universal House of Justice, which governs the Bahá’ís, is located in Haifa, Israel. The current Iranian regime has called for the destruction of Israel and denied the existence of Holocaust. Ironically, Nazi authorities prevented Jews from attending universities shortly after taking power in the 1930s.
The current campaign for Iranian students asks people to solve the code by scanning it. It also asks that people solve the educational inequality found in Iran.
The site tells users to scan an image, watch a video, mail a letter, and forward information about the campaign to social media friends.
“In Iran, the denial of education is a reality that many young people are being forced to accept as they are systematically being denied access to universities and institutions of higher learning,” according to the Can You Solve This website. “This is not because the institutions of learning are not available, but rather, because these young people have different political views, social affiliations or religious convictions.”
Student political activists, feminists and human rights activists were thrown out of the higher educational system in Iran. The Iranian regime is also lowering the number of women attending universities, according to Mashable.
There are many claims of human rights violations made against the Iranian government. For example, two American men hiking along the Iraq–Iran border were sentenced to eight years in prison recently on dubious charges that include espionage, according to a report carried by TMCnet.
The “Can You Solve This?” movement was launched in Berlin, Cologne and Hamburg, Germany.
By Ed Silverstein, TMCnet Contributor
Source : Freedom Messenger