Hadaf Educational Group ( fa, گروه فرهنگی هدف, "Goruh-e Farhangi-e Hadaf") was a pioneering

private education An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

al complex, founded in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

in 1949. The founders include Ahmad Birashk, and a number of well-known

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

teachers of

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and

natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

s, including Ahmad Anwari, Taqi Hurfar, Ali Motemadden and Ahmad Reza Qoli-Zade.

History

The name Hadaf (English: goal) also served as an acronym in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

for ''honar'' (

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

); ''danesh'' (

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

), and ''farhang'' (

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

). The main objective of the Group was to offer high quality

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

from elementary to high school, comparable to that of American preparatory schools. Hadaf's first boys'

(Dabirestan-e yak-e pesaran-e Hadaf) was established in 1951. In 1955 three new schools were added: a girls' high school, a boys

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

and another elementary school for girls. By 1974 Hadaf schools were expanded to 12 elementary, intermediary, and high schools for boys and girls, including a coed

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

with a total of 3,524 students. In 1974, when the government initiated national mandatory

free education Free education is education funded through government spending or charitable organizations rather than tuition funding. Many models of free higher education have been proposed. Primary school and other comprehensive or compulsory education is fr ...

for all students from primary to the end of intermediary grades (8th grade), three elementary and four intermediary schools of the Hadaf Group were transferred to the public school system. From 1951 to 1976, a total of 15,588 students had graduated from Hadaf high schools: 8,596 in mathematics branch, 6,960 in natural sciences, and only 32 in

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

. The overwhelming majority of Hadaf graduates continued their

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

either in leading

universities or in American and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an institutions of higher education. Hadaf high schools were equipped with libraries and labs for

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

, and

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

as well as workshops for

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters tr ...

mechanics Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to objects r ...

auto mechanic An auto mechanic (automotive technician in most of North America, light vehicle technician in British English, and motor mechanic in Australian English) is a mechanic who services and repairs automobiles, sometimes specializing in one or more ...

s, and

ironsmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, grill ...

works. The first Hadaf high school also hosted a

museum. The success of the Hadaf Group encouraged the formation of two other educational complexes in the 1950s, Goruh-e Farhangi-e Kharazmi and Goruh-e Farhangi-e Azar. In 1959, the Hadaf Group initiated the formation of the Association of Private Prep Schools (Anjoman-e melli-e madares-e hamahang) consisting of the above educational complexes along with 12

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

s aimed at promoting their common goals. In 1970 the Hadaf, Adar, and Kharazmi educational groups formed a

teacher training Teacher education or teacher training refers to programs, policies, procedures, and provision designed to equip (prospective) teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, approaches, methodologies and skills they require to perform their t ...

program for the new intermediary schools, which were introduced into the educational system in 1971. That same year Hadaf also initiated, with the cooperation of the Adar and Kharazmi groups, in the formation of two well equipped vocational centers, to offer introductory vocational courses with 12 workshops in each unit.

Hadaf Group stock

Hadaf Group was formed as a joint stock enterprise with a starting capital of 350,000 rials ($5,000.00) in 1950, of which 270,000 was provided from the revenues of evening courses offered from 1948–50 and the remaining was given by the founders and other

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...

s. Although the property of the Hadaf Group belonged to the shareholders, annual revenues were often invested for the establishment of new schools, construction of new buildings, and expansion of labs and libraries. In 1979, when the group's activities were terminated and the government confiscated the complex, the group owed 88 mil. rials (c. $1 mil.) to the banks, but possessed over 15,000 square meters of

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

land and over 20,000 square meters of educational space at its disposal.

Notable alumni

* Simin Meydani, Iranian-American nutrition scientist, professor, university Vice Provost

References

{{coord missing, Tehran Province High schools in Iran Education in Tehran