A Brief Overview of the History of the Country's Selection System
The process of the formation and development of the country's selection system in its current form is, in fact, the result of 30 years of efforts by officials of the Islamic Republic system at various levels and selection officials across the country. In a brief overview, this process can be divided into the following three historical periods:
1- From the victory of the Islamic Revolution until the issuance of the decree of December 25, 1982, by Imam Khomeini (RA),
2- From the time of the Imam's decree until the approval of the country's selection law,
3- From the time of the approval of the country's selection law to the present.
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First Period: From the Victory of the Islamic Revolution to the Issuance of the Decree of December 25, 1982, by Imam Khomeini (RA): The country's selection institution began its activities from the very beginning of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, in the form of selection cores and boards. Naturally, one of the most important challenges that selection faced at the beginning of its formation was the possibility of the entry of individuals with political and ideological identities that were in conflict with the values of the Islamic Revolution into the executive apparatus and sensitive institutions of the country. This was because, in the early days of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, numerous groups and factions, such as the monarchist groups and those remaining from the previous regime, or individuals affiliated with groups and parties affiliated with liberalistic or Marxist or eclectic ideologies, intended to infiltrate the country's executive apparatus in order to undermine the nascent Islamic Revolution.
Therefore, the country's selection system, despite the lack of facilities and personnel, adopted a completely strict policy and line of action. Also, in this period, the selection structure had a traditional form and, at the same time, faced weaknesses such as extremism and negligence, and in some executive apparatuses of the country, proper selection was not carried out. For example, in interviews, questions were sometimes asked of the applicants that were not correct according to Sharia and custom. Until, with the opinion of Imam (RA), selection found another birth and entered a new stage, and on December 25, 1982, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, during a decree to the Headquarters for the Follow-up of Judicial and Administrative Violations, dissolved all the boards that had been formed in the name of selection throughout the country. He stated in part of his decree:
"Recently, I have observed several books as questions of Islamic religion and ideology, and I have become very sorry for what has been presented in these books and pamphlets of this kind in the name of Islam, this divine human-making religion, for public selection, and they have been considered as the standard of rejection and acceptance of individuals. These writings, which are full of questions unrelated to Islam and religion and are sometimes obscene and deplorable, since they have been published in the name of religion and Islam, are among the deviant books and pamphlets that are harmful to the reputation of Islam and the Islamic Republic, and I have recommended to the Minister of Guidance to collect such books as soon as possible and declare their sale, purchase, and publication as religiously forbidden. Perhaps many of the people who have been involved in their compilation have had good intentions; however, the possibility of the infiltration of devils in this kind of issues is strong, who have taken this action to distort the luminous face of Islam or the Islamic Republic."
In the letter, he also ordered the formation of boards whose members were righteous and committed, and it was ensured that these individuals were not narrow-minded, hot-tempered, lenient, and negligent, and he obliged this headquarters to prepare booklets suitable for their work in a reasonable and Islamic manner for each ministry or other centers to be used as a criterion for action.
After this message, a headquarters called the Central Headquarters for Following up on Imam's (RA) Decree was formed on December 26, 1982, with the presence of the then-President of the Supreme Court, the then-Prime Minister, and Hojjatoleslam Seyyed Ahmad Khomeini, and after this meeting, it was decided:
1- Selection boards throughout the country should be dissolved.
2- The Supreme Selection Board should be formed, consisting of Hojjatoleslam Ghorbanali Dori-Najafabadi, Engineer Mansour Razavi, and Dr. Mohammad Pourgol.
3- The Central Selection Boards must be formed within 10 days and operate under the supervision of the Supreme Board.
4- The scope of duties and powers of the selections should be adjusted as soon as possible based on Imam's (RA) decree.
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Second Period: From the Issuance of Imam's (RA) Decree to the Approval of the Selection Law: After the decree of Imam (RA), selection entered its systematic stage, so that during this time, the country's selection gained a relatively favorable growth. In total, before the approval of the selection law, the following actions were implemented by the Supreme Board in order to implement Imam's (RA) decree:
1- Drafting the job description of the Supreme Selection Board;
2- Drafting the selection regulations for the members of the Central Boards;
3- Drafting the job description of the cores;
4- Drafting the regulations of the cores;
5- Drafting the selection regulations for the members of the cores;
6- Drafting the job description of the secretariat of the Central Board;
7- Specifying the organizational structure and organizational positions of the Central Boards and cores;
8- Drafting the duties of the internal departments of the boards, including training and evaluation, the department of planning and follow-up, and the department of public affairs;
9- Drafting the duties and powers of the core units, including the administrative and public relations unit, the examination unit, and the research and evaluation unit;
10- Drafting the regulations related to dealing with complaints, investigation, and interviews, and issues related to the transfer of selection files;
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Second Period: From the Approval of the Selection Law to the Present: Selection officials decided in early 1996 to determine a specific and codified law to be used as a criterion for action in the country's selection system. Therefore, it was decided that the law on the selection of teachers and employees of education, which had previously been approved by the parliament on September 5, 1995, and announced by the President on September 26, 1995, should be extended to the employees of other ministries, organizations, and government companies.
Following this, on May 15, 1996, the single article of the law on the selection of teachers and employees of education, with 3 notes after the approval of the amendments made, was approved by the Guardian Council and the Islamic Consultative Assembly, and on May 20, 1996, it was also announced to the then-President, and on May 23, 1996, it was announced by him for implementation to all the country's apparatuses.
Based on the above single article, in order to fully implement the decree of Imam (RA) and apply a unified policy in the country's selections, the selection and implementation of the relevant regulations in all ministries, organizations, and government companies whose inclusion in the law requires mentioning their names, institutions, and companies whose all or part of their budget is provided from the public budget, as well as the officers and transferees to the above-mentioned apparatuses and the Islamic Revolution institutions, were subject to the provisions of the mentioned law. After the approval of the selection law, the pillars of the country's selection and their duties were also determined, at the head of which was the highest executive authority of the country, the President, and in order, the Supreme Selection Board, the Central Boards, and finally the selection cores were placed. Of course, in this law, the composition of each of the selection pillars was also specified. As the Supreme Selection Board consisted of a representative of the judiciary, elected by the head of the judiciary, the Secretary-General of the Administrative and Employment Affairs Organization of the country, which was later changed to the Vice-Presidency for Development and Human Resources Management of the President, the Minister or the highest official of the executive apparatus, as the case may be, and two representatives from the commissions of administrative and employment affairs and education, elected by the Islamic Consultative Assembly as observers, were appointed.
Also, the composition of the Central Selection Board, which is responsible for supervising and coordinating with the Supreme Selection Board in the executive apparatuses, consisted of the representative of the Minister or, in other words, the representative of the apparatus, the representative of the Administrative and Employment Affairs Organization of the country, which later became the representative of the Vice-Presidency for Development and Human Resources Management, and the representative of the Supreme Selection Board.
After the approval of the selection law, one of the most important measures taken in order to implement it was the approval of the executive regulations of selection, which, based on Article 18 of the selection law approved in 1996, the Supreme Selection Board was obliged to prepare the executive regulations of the law in cooperation with the Administrative and Employment Affairs Organization of the country and the Ministry of Education, and on August 16, 1998, the executive regulations of the country's selection law was also approved by the joint commission of education and administrative and employment affairs of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, and on September 2, 1998, it was announced by the then-President to the executive apparatuses of the country, including the organizations and ministries subject to the selection law. Based on this, firstly, the general regulations and the regulations for selecting the best, and secondly, the organizations, the scope of duties, and the competencies of the Supreme Selection Board, the Central Boards, and the cores were specified and defined.
In the continuation of the activities of the country's selection, especially between 2001 and 2005, considerable efforts were made to expand the use of the automation system in the selection process.
After that, the selection system, especially between 2005 and 2007, after passing a stage of stagnation and isolation, entered a new stage and, with major changes, including the reform of the structure and the human resources organization, the revision plan in the instructions, and some other measures, effective steps were taken to optimize the selection process.
Among the most important developments of this period, the announcement of the revised instructions of "Interview," "Investigation," "Evaluation," and "Regulations and Criteria Governing Selection" to all selection units, as well as the preparation and announcement of the instructions of "Responsibility," "Dismissal and Appointment of Selection Staff," "Ghamz-e-Ain," "Creation, Separation, and Merger of Selection Cores," and "Dealing with Selection Violations of Selectors" can be mentioned. Also, holding training workshops on transformation in the country's selection system was another measure taken in this period.
Finally, from 1997 to the present, the changes and developments that have taken place in various fields in the previous period have continued, and among them, an attempt was made to create a kind of uniformity in the instructions, regulations, and criteria of selection.
Also, in this period, when the need to re-architect the structure of the Supreme Board was felt, with the assistance of the relevant officials, this was achieved, and therefore, one of the measures taken in this period can be considered the organization of the organizational structure of the secretariat of the Supreme Selection Board. This was done through the organization of the human resources needed by the secretariat of this board, through obtaining an employment permit, and after that, the recruitment committee was formed in order to take the necessary measures to identify and employ committed and specialized personnel for the desired positions.
Other measures taken in this period can be the revision and publication of the instructions on the regulations and criteria governing the country's selection, as well as the reform and presentation of the instructions for interviews, investigations, evaluations, and the issuance of opinions and the instructions for the dismissal and appointment of managers and officials of the selection units, in addition to the compilation and presentation of the booklet of doctrinal principles and the main topics of the rulings needed by the applicants and interviewers, along with its CD, and finally, the reform of the main topics of educational texts for the training of selection personnel.
