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{\an8}'ALDO;
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{\an8}Institute for the Intellectual
Development of Children and Young Adults
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{\an8}Cinema and Theater Department
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The Teacher: Images and memories
8 October 1977
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The teachers are meeting, before going
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to their classes,
in front of their blackboards
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and our children and youngsters,
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to address them,
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talk to them about life and the world.
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We entrust these women and men
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with our dear ones.
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We, caring parents,
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so sensitive to our children's wellbeing,
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leave, in all confidence,
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their future in these people's hands.
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What I can state, in general,
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is that for a person capable of reasoning,
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happiness depends on just one thing:
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understanding that his body and soul
were granted to him to rule,
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according to the law of the Koran.
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They asked Imam Mahdi
what function he would have accepted.
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He replied he would choose
any government role
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that allowed him to act
in favor of the people.
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No profession is more sacred,
more respectable, more honorable
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than teaching.
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To my mind, teaching is a profession
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for which you have to be trained
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from the earliest years.
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It's a serious mistake to think
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anybody can teach.
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Teaching isn't a job. For me, it's an art.
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Where you involve your conscience.
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It can only be done by people
who are extremely conscientious.
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It's a sacred function.
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A function that is...
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positive.
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It's a satisfying function.
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On condition that you're a real teacher.
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As for me,
I'd say it's an ideal profession.
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I've been doing it with passion
since I was 14.
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And I still love my job.
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I don't know about the others.
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It must be said,
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the teaching function, a sacred function,
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is the one that assures
a society's cultural evolution.
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The progress of any society
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depends on the quality of its teachers.
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I find it's an honorable profession.
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I chose it to better serve
the society I live in.
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I'm a mother, I love children.
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That explains my teaching vocation.
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Teaching is the finest profession,
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morally and spiritually speaking.
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It guides the country's youth
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towards elevation, fulfillment,
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and the mastery of all the sciences.
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Teachers haven't chosen an easy job.
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But what rewards do they get
for all their efforts?
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What job satisfaction is there?
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Do you want an honest answer?
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None.
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Let me explain:
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when you've finished with a student
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who completes their schooling
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and leaves high school,
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if it's a girl who gets married,
she no longer greets you.
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That's how it goes in this country.
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If it's a boy...
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and he had the slightest problem with you,
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when he sees you, he crosses the street.
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If by chance he has a position
and you need a favor,
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he reckons all the merit is his,
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that he got to where he is by himself
and owes you nothing.
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I think any social action
should be disinterested.
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Expecting a reward devalues it.
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That said,
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depending on the education
the students received
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and their capacity to reflect and analyze,
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that the teachers passed on,
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they can show their gratitude.
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I think any teacher's satisfaction
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comes from seeing
the result of his efforts.
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Seeing his students progress
and attain important positions,
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it's an honor for the teachers.
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Our pleasure is bound up
with that of the country's youth.
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This pleasure is irreplaceable.
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That's why we remain
in the service of this youth,
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during a 40-year career.
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A teacher's greatest moral reward
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is his student's progress.
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I taught for 28 years.
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Each year, seeing none
of my students failing the exams
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was my greatest reward.
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I never felt tired.
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The greatest reward I can receive
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is to deliver good people to society,
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that society can benefit from my students.
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You intend to make a film
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that pays tribute to teachers.
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That's very good.
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Everybody needs encouraging.
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Teachers are no exception.
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But the real problem is
our purchasing power.
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The other day I called a plumber.
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He worked two hours.
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He took 600 tomans.
He didn't do any studies.
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While a teacher, for all his diplomas,
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will never earn more than 100 tomans
for two hours' work.
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The gap is huge.
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How can we rectify this discrepancy?
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It's a job you do out of love,
by vocation.
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If a teacher doesn't like his job,
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the harm is done
to the 40 young girls or boys
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whose education he's in charge of.
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As a result, only those
who feel driven by this passion
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should enter the teaching profession.
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The teacher is responsible for the
education of the country's population.
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He'd be well-advised to understand
the importance of his task.
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It's not for the miserable salary
that doesn't even pay the rent.
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But to satisfy his clean conscience
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and obey divine will.
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For God, no act is nobler
than serving your neighbor
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and no service more valuable
than the education of society.
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In short, a teacher's reward
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can have two aspects.
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Financial reward,
that is often unsatisfactory.
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The feeling of frustration and privation
is widespread.
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Especially if you start comparing jobs.
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Teachers can feel hard done by.
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But the fact is,
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there is a moral reward
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that makes the job attractive.
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It's the relationship
between student and teacher.
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Like considerate gardeners,
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teachers watch over
the constant growth of these plants
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that will sprout, grow, flourish,
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and spread their branches
across the future horizon.
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The teacher seeks his reward
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in the growth of these seeds.
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The students are sitting the final exam.
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Once they graduate,
some of them will go to university.
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Others will get married or find a job.
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Whatever the case, we hope
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they succeed in everything they undertake.
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We don't know
if we'll ever get the chance
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to see them again one day.
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I've kept in touch with former students
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who now live abroad.
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When they come back, we visit each other.
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I'm invited to their weddings
and their children's birthdays.
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When they invite me,
they receive me more warmly
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than a member of their family.
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They embrace me and show their affection.
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We have lots of memories like this.
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Our former students live all over Iran.
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Wherever we go, we find them,
they welcome us.
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The only relationship that isn't spoiled
by power relations
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is with the teacher.
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My old teachers are very friendly to me.
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But I still have a great respect for them
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that maintains a distance between us.
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They went to a lot of trouble for me.
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I still feel like a student
when I meet them.
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When I was 6, I moved up a level.
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I got the best grade and got a pencil
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from the teacher, who was called Sabeteh.
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I forget her family name.
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I never saw her again.
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But I still had the pencil until recently.
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For me...
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it was a sacred object,
a kind of talisman.
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One day, in the street,
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I saw my old 4th grade teacher,
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by chance.
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I was very moved to see her.
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I didn't know
if I should greet her or not.
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I didn't dare show myself.
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Then she saw me.
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I went over and greeted her.
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She didn't recognize me at first.
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I was like a child again.
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I was intimidated, I didn't know
how I should address her.
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She was delighted to hear
I'd gone into teaching.
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She asked me why.
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I replied that she had inspired me.
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So, teachers can overcome
the pitfalls and bitterness
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to reach a certain degree
of human understanding,
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giving them access
to the lush garden of their memory,
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where they gather the only buds
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that, in all seasons,
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perfume their hearts and minds.
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For someone who has dedicated
his life to it, teaching isn't a job,
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but the actual meaning of life.
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Today, I had to retire.
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But if I didn't have any problems,
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if my health allowed me,
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I'd still spend years talking to students,
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educating them,
making progress with them.
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If I have the strength,
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I intend to do voluntary work
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anywhere,
as long as my teaching is useful.
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That's all.
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Retired teachers keep on teaching.
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It's a passion.
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Even if they retire,
they still pass on knowledge.
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It's still too early for me
to think about it.
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I must say, I've never thought about it.
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But it seems to me...
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that after teaching for 20 years,
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I would have to stop.
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I wouldn't have the same energy
for teaching.
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These are school grounds.
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The oldest of schools.
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The garden of memories
of the old gardener.
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A space imbued
with the being of the teacher
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who inhabited it and marked it.
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This is his true domain,
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where the nobleness of his stature
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is spread before our eyes.
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This film is dedicated
to the memory of our dear teachers.
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N. Ansari to M. Sohani
A. Jafari to S. Abdali
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M. Haghighi to M. Mehran
R. Davari to H. Mehrabani
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00:17:06,943 --> 00:17:09,904
A. Ranjbar to M. Nosrati
A. Kiarostami to E. Nuriala
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00:17:10,071 --> 00:17:14,200
Produced by the Ministry of Education