Alavi Institute (Persian: موسسه فرهنگی علوی) is an Islamic high school in Tehran.
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In 1955, against the backdrop of despair and pessimism of the Great Depression in Iran, Ali Asghar Karbaschian who known as Allameh[1] founded the Alavi Institute as an Islamic high school in the city of Tehran, the capital of Iran. On 1957 new talented students entered classes on an old house which was bought for about $15000 and remodeled to use for training reasons. The school was fully accredited by the Ministry of Education, and beside academic subjects, taught Islamic matters to students.
Mr. Allameh was a well known scholar in the city of Qom, but his prosperity led to his greater ambition to discover that
"There is no important job in more than conduct and help human beings to be better and worship God"
from Muhammad's statement and this cause him to leave preaching activities and come to Tehran and establish the Institute in the name of Imam Ali, the first Imam of the Shi'as.
The big milestone after establishing the high school was hiring Ostad Reza Roozbeh, who was a great researcher and teacher, as a Director of the school. Ostad Roozbeh passed away in 1973 and after that Dr. Mohammad Reza Khosravi put in charge.
Alavi High school remains one of the most difficult schools to gain admission to. Usually, about 70-80% of the 9th grade class are students that completed education in Alavi's primary and middle schools. The school's admissions process includes an examination and then an interview. The entrance examination includes Mathematics, Sciences, Persian Literature and History, as well as Shia Islamic fundamentals. The competition is fierce, and out of the hundreds that take the exam about one hundred are invited back for interviews. The interviews are designed to examine the student's social and religious core, as well as the parents'. What they look for are upper class or highly educated middle class families with strong religious convictions.
70-80 students are selected for the 9th grade to form that year's class; these students are then grouped into 3 classes. The 9th grade class continues to 12th grade and the students are mixed and re-grouped every year; admissions past 9th grade is extremely rare. Alavi invests a lot of time in creating a sense of collegiality and close ties between students, and that's why they don't want new students to enter past the 9th grade.
Several students from Alavi high school have been awarded medals at international math and science olympiads such as IMO, IPHO, ICHO, IBO etc.
There is a reason why Alavi is a hotbed for children of the rich and the powerful: The school provides a high quality of education. However the popularity is also due to its exclusivity and emphasis on tradition and religion.
The school has a reputation in pressurising parents and students alike. It can be argued that because of its over exclusivity, most students might find it hard to integrate in the wider society, however there is a strong sense of comradity between them even after graduation.
Alavi High School teaches its students in only two majors: "Math and Physics", or "Natural sciences" with 75-80% of students choosing the math and physics track.
The main concern for most highschool students is the Konkour (University entrance examination). Alavi hires well experienced teachers, some of them having had the highest marks in the Konkour that they took part in. Hence, the students are very well prepared. They consistently perform well in the Konkour.
Hossein Karbaschin son of allameh is now the principal of high school.(2007)