The closing of the school was a great shock although we had
expected that it might happen. The Bab’s Martyrdom in this country is kept by
the Arabic calendar and came this year on December 6. ... Saturday afternoon a
policeman came with an order from the Board of Education to close the schools.
They said Tarbiyat had been closed for no reason Thursday and the license for
Tarbiyat School existed no longer. The order came after school had been
dismissed and there was no time to tell all the children, so Adelaide and her
assistant went to school the next morning at 6:30 A.M., before the policeman
could get there, and as the children came to enter the school they had to be
turned back. This was very hard as many of the little ones did not understand
and called to Adelaide to tell the policeman to let them in, and many cried.
... The Baha’i children have not gone to other schools. ... The Muhammadan
children of course went to other schools but they are not satisfied and happy.
Tarbiyat School was far ahead of the other Persian schools, in their text
books, character training and everything else. All the schools say this. The
educated Muhammadans are with the Baha’is. One important Muhammadan said he
knew it was a Baha’i School when he sent his children there and said that was
no reason for closing the school. ... We had many of the best families in town
sending their children and they are feeling very badly about it. There were
nearly 1500 pupils in both schools and about 50 teachers. ... This has
advertised the school and called attention to the Cause and what they are
working for more than anything else that could have happened. ... Shoghi
Effendi has written for us to be patient and not make any disturbance but
persevere and keep trying to gain religious liberty, that the school will again
open and things will be better than ever.
(Baha’i News, no. 96, December 1935)
