Students face numerous obstacles in having access to quality education in Iran; such obstacles double and triple when it gets to girls and young women.
The new academic year starts in Iran on September 23 with some 15 million elementary and high school students and another 4 million students of higher education. With the Iranian regime’s failure to provide free and mandatory education for Iranian children while more than 80% of the nation is living under the poverty line, there is no guarantee for Iranian children and youths to be able to continue their education.
Article 30 of the Iranian regime’s constitution obliges the government to provide free and mandatory education for all to finish high school, but levying heavy tuitions has deprived thousands of students from having access to education in Iran.
According to the former deputy director of the Budget and Planning Organization, “More than 9% of Iranian families have to sell their belongings to provide for their children’s education since they do not afford to pay from their regular income.” (The state-run Ettela’at daily newspaper – June 17, 2019)
The head of the Association of Skills Training Schools announced that 37 percent of Iranian students drop out of school before getting their diploma, and that only 7 percent of high school graduates are admitted to universities. (The state-run Fars news agency – November 4, 2017)
In October 2016, Shahindokht Molaverdi, director of the presidential directorate on Women and Family Affairs, citing the parliamentary Research Center announced that 3,200,000 children and youths were deprived of education in Iran, adding, “More girls are deprived of education compared to boys.”
Abbas Soltanian, Education Ministry’s deputy for senior high school education, also underscored that the number of girls who leave school is “far greater” than boys. (The state-run ILNA news agency – June 25, 2018)
