Poverty, Gender Discrimination, and Child Marriage at the Core
In Iran, thousands of children fall out of the education system every year—a trend that is particularly alarming when it comes to girls.
While education is a fundamental right of every child, a combination of economic hardship, gender discrimination, and the persistent phenomenon of child marriage continues to deprive many Iranian girls of access to schooling.
Official Statistics Reveal a Surge in Dropout Numbers
According to the latest data released by the Iranian Ministry of Education, the number of out-of-school students for the 2023–2024 academic year has reached a staggering 928,729, a significant increase from 902,188 in the previous year. These figures highlight a growing crisis in the country’s education sector, particularly affecting marginalized and vulnerable populations.
Child Marriage: A Leading Cause of School Dropout Among Girls
Among the most tragic reasons for school dropout is early or forced marriage, a practice that persists due to prevalent financial hardships and widespread poverty. These marriages abruptly pull girls out of school and thrust them into premature roles as wives and mothers. Once married, few girls are granted the opportunity—or permission—to return to the classroom.
Educational Injustice: Public Universities Increasingly Dominated by Wealthy
In recent years, the dominance of affluent families over public university seats has become a clear indicator of the collapse of educational equity in Iran.
A striking example lies in this year’s top-ranked student in the national university entrance exam, whose preparatory material alone reportedly cost over 300 million toman—a sum inconceivable for most students in disadvantaged areas.
The type of school attended also plays a crucial role in access to higher education. Data shows that students from regular public schools are becoming increasingly rare among top-ranking university entrants, while those from gifted, semi-public, private, and other elite schools continue to hold the majority of successful placements.
This growing gap has rendered the competition fundamentally unfair, leading to the systemic failure of a large segment of students.
In contrast to many advanced education systems around the world, Iran’s fragmented and multi-tiered school structure has eliminated equal opportunities, reinforced cultural and social divides, and intensified class-based inequality through the institutionalization of educational segregation.
