TEHRAN -- Iran’s Education Ministry plans to establish 1,200 official Qur’an memorization schools over the next five years, an official has said.
Speaking to IQNA, Mikaeil Bagheri, director general of the ministry’s Qur’an, Etrat and Prayers Department, said some of the memorization schools are already operating on a trial basis.
He noted that the schools will be founded based on the Seventh Development Plan of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Stressing the importance that the Education Ministry attaches to promoting Qur’an memorization among school students, he said, “The Leader of the Islamic Revolution has long emphasized that we should have 10 million memorizers of the Qur’an. 
“Therefore, the Minister of Education has been insistent that efforts must be made in the field of memorization to achieve a significant portion of the goals that have not yet been realized,” he said. 
Bagheri said the Education Ministry is one of the most successful organizations in training memorizers.
“If all agencies, institutions, and organizations were as active as the Education Ministry in this field, we would make great progress on this path,” he said. 
According to Bagheri, identifying and nurturing Qur’anic talents are also greatly emphasized by the education minister who believes that no student should be unaware of their talent or be unable to develop this talent due to our shortcomings, especially in the field of the Qur’an.
“Regarding talent identification, we are currently conducting a pilot project in 16 educational regions of the country to implement this work in schools with the help of Dar-ul-Qur’an centers and internationally-acclaimed Qur’an experts, so that we can identify talented individuals with the assistance of teachers, and this process will gradually be extended to other educational regions,” he said. 
He noted that the platform for the general education of the Qur’an is the school, and its specialized education is in the Dar-ul-Qur’an centers.
Sometimes, when the education sector falls behind for any reason, part of the capacity of the Dar-ul-Qur’an centers is also used for general education, he stated.
“Our mission and policy is to implement extracurricular programs, and in this regard, there are about 860 Dar-ul-Qur’an centers active across the country, covering 10 educational levels, from basic reading of the Qur’an to teaching Sawt and Lahn, encompassing both general and specialized education.”
Bagheri said general education has three pillars: “One is the textbook, the second is the teacher, and the third is the student. It is of great importance to present this lesson in an engaging manner, although this is not as crucial for other subjects. Because (in other subjects) both the student and their parents, even if the book lacks visual appeal, feel compelled to learn it. In the case of teaching the Qur’an, in addition to its technical content, which must be sound, its appearance must also be appealing.”
He added that his colleagues at the Ministry’s Research Organization are seeking to present Qur’an textbooks with a different and attractive appearance and with a diversity suitable for children which will lead to increased interest among students.