Nevertheless, women confronted many obstacles. Perhaps in response to religious opposition to female education there was strict gender segregation among both students and teachers after elementary school (see iii, ix, above). A memorandum on employment of women issued to provincial offices by the Ministry of Education (Wezārat-e maʿāref) on 11 October 1935 encouraged the hiring of female teachers, even for boys’ schools, in the first four grades, on the premise that they would be “more useful and effective” with young children (Wezārat-e maʿāref, p. 89).
It also included the information that in the current academic year several mixed schools for the first four grades (kūdakestān-e moḵtaleṭ) had been established in Tehran, Qazvīn, and towns in western Azerbaijan and Gīlān. The relevant provincial offices were asked to report the results of this innovation as soon as possible. It’s important to note: no university is perfect in dimensions. What matters most depends on your personal priorities (e.g., your subject, region, budget, career goals).
