Paper short abstract:

Formal education for Bakhtiari people who live a pastoral nomadic lifestyle has formed throughout the uprising of different governments in Iran. The current education system has adapted to fit their nomadic lifestyle. However, the functionality of that system is a question for this research.

Paper long abstract:

This study aims to employ ethnographic techniques to paint a picture of the mindset of contemporary Bakhtiari on formal education within their pastoral nomadic lifestyle. The research bases its discussions on participatory field observations and structured and semi-structured interviews conducted within two years of non-continuous fieldwork amongst Bakhtiari, who live or have lived a pastoral nomadic lifestyle.

The main findings and discussions of the research are 1) The importance of literacy amongst Bakhtiari in the past and the existence of a state-independent education system organised by the Bakhtiari families who lived a pastoral nomadic lifestyle. These independent schools long existed before the formation of the modern nation-state of Iran with a formal education system, 2) The adaptations of the current government’s formal education system to meet the conditions of the mobile pastoralists who are living in remote areas and move in seasonal patterns to different regions, 3) The challenges and dilemmas some Bakhtari are living through in order to use and benefit from the formal education system.

I further attempt to discuss the extent to which the current education system acts as a direct or an indirect tool for sedentarising people with a pastoral nomadic lifestyle in the Zagros mountains of Iran. I hope the findings of this research will be used by policymakers and academics in social sciences engaged with pastoral nomadic communities in Iran and elsewhere.