The Iranian regime sentenced a teacher to forced retirement for her part in rallies demanding teachers’ employment rights.
The board of appeals for the administrative violations of employees of Gilan’s Department of Education in northern Iran, sentenced Zahra Sayyad Delshadpour, a high school teacher in Bandar Anzali, to compulsory retirement, among other things, for “participating in rallies and sit-ins.”
According to the ruling that was issued in February 2024 and was newly confirmed, Mrs. Delshadpour was charged for “participating in rallies and sit-ins, encouraging students to strike, and using chants that broke the norms” based on “field investigation by security and administrative authorities.”
The verdict states that Zahra Sayyad Delshadpour’s sentence for forced retirement was final, but that she can register her complaint in the Administrative Court of Justice within a maximum period of three months after she was notified of the sentence.
Zahra Sayyad Delshadpour was sentenced to compulsory retirement once before in June 2023 by the aforementioned board, and with her protest, the sentence was overturned in the Court of Administrative Justice and again referred to the appeals board.
The regime sentences teachers to forced retirement despite the Ministry of Education having a shortage of at least 300,000 teachers. To avoid paying teachers’ salaries, the Ministry of Education refuses to officially hire thousands of qualified teachers, replacing them with teachers who are willing to work with temporary contracts which violate teachers’ employment rights.
At the same time, the salaries of official, unofficial, and temporary teachers are not paid each month, forcing them to live months without salaries. During the past years, teachers have participated in many protests and sit-ins to demand their rights.
