The state-run Etemad daily, in a report comparing public and private schools, wrote that non-profit private schools have been successful due to recruiting experienced teachers and offering visible facilities, while public schools, on the other hand, have lost their appeal because of declining educational quality.
According to Etemad, this trend has further weakened public schools and strengthened the risk of a “two-tier” education system. As a result, low-income families lose equal access to quality education, and the educational inequality gap deepens.
Educational Disaster in Iran: 70% of Students Suffering from Learning Poverty
The newspaper added that, according to the deputy minister of education, the minimum tuition for private elementary schools outside Tehran is between 192 to 530 million rials (Approximately $175 to 482). In Tehran (excluding extracurricular programs), the minimum tuition is about 300 million rials (Approximately $273) for elementary, 360 million rials (Approximately $327) for lower secondary, 370 million rials (Approximately $336) for upper secondary, and for some specialized fields up to 520 million rials (Approximately $473).
Meanwhile, the minimum monthly wage of a worker with two children, including benefits, hardly reaches $180, and 60% of workers are forced to have a second job.
However, the newspaper’s field report shows that some schools charge much higher fees: for example, 2.6 billion rials (Approximately $2,364) in District One (elementary), 2.05 billion rials (Approximately $1,864) in District Two, and amounts of 1.8 billion and 1.5 billion rials (Approximately $1,636 and $1,363) in other districts.
In addition, in many schools’ tuition fees for the new academic year have increased by between 40% and 70%, and in some cases, schools have even exceeded the official ceiling (a maximum of 1.45 billion rials or $1,318).
