The alarming situation of students dropping out of school in Iran stems from structural factors such as severe poverty, economic inequality, and a lack of funding for educational infrastructure. This growing phenomenon is threatening the future of millions of children and adolescents and requires a serious review of the country’s educational and economic policies.
Statistical dimensions and structural causes of school dropouts
Alireza Kazemi, the education minister of Iran’s regime, recently announced that there are nearly 950,000 children who have dropped out of school. He stated that economic poverty, illnesses, migration, and poor educational conditions are among the contributing factors.
Iran’s Statistical Center Reports Rise in School Dropout Rates
Ali Zarafshan, advisor to the education minister, cited structural crises, poverty, inequality, migration, marginalization, lack of budget for developing educational infrastructure, and child labor as the main reasons for school dropout. These factors combined have contributed to the rising dropout rate.
Geography of inequality and the impact of cultural factors on school dropout
According to the 2023–2024 Statistical Yearbook, Khuzestan Province, with 1,087,050 students, ranks fourth nationwide in total number of students. However, Rezvan Hakimzadeh, the deputy minister for primary education, had earlier stated that the highest dropout rates in Iran belong to the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan, Tehran, Khorasan Razavi, Khuzestan, and the suburban areas of Tehran.
According to Hakimzadeh, economic and cultural problems, migration, distance from school environments, and family prejudices are among the key factors contributing to school dropouts. Other major reasons include illness or even death of children, lack of accurate contact information or addresses for families, and unregistered children attending unofficial educational centers. Even in urban areas, dropout rates are significant. One of the main reasons for urban dropouts is uncertainty about future employment.
Education quality and unprofessional policies: a threat to school retention
Beyond poverty and infrastructural issues, another concern is the unprofessional conduct of teaching staff. Previously, Farhangian University guaranteed that every graduate would be qualified to teach in schools. However, in recent years, mass and unqualified hirings, such as the employment of clerics in the education system, have driven schools toward unprofessionalism.
Mohammad Davari, spokesperson for the Teachers’ Organization of Iran, recently stated that in the process of selecting teachers, “mental health is sidelined while ideological and political scrutiny is extreme.” He said this imbalance in recruitment is entirely legitimate to protest against. He gave an example of a top-ranking applicant whose acceptance was revoked simply because local investigations claimed her hijab was “a bit loose.”
Shocking dropout statistics and the ministry’s conflicting priorities
The dropout statistics are staggering. The deputy minister for primary education announced that according to the Mahmoudvand system’s latest data as of May 12, 2025, a total of 152,287 out-of-school children aged 6 to 11 had been identified in Khuzestan Province. Of this number, more than 130,000 had never been registered in any school.
According to the Ministry of Education’s data, in the 2022–2023 academic year, 902,188 children across different educational levels dropped out of school. The breakdown shows that 156,835 were in elementary school, 195,568 in lower secondary, and 549,785 in upper secondary. The overall dropout rate for the 2022–2023 school year was 1.97%, equivalent to 287,617 students. In the 2023–2024 school year, it was estimated at 1.65%, equal to 247,242 students.
Worsening educational inequality and academic decline among students
Mohammadreza Sabaghian, a member of parliament representing Bafq, recently remarked that the current diversity of schools in Iran resembles “the caste and class system of the Sassanid era, which history condemns.” He noted that the children of wealthy families and government officials easily separate themselves by attending private schools charging hundreds of millions of tomans (billions of rials) in tuition, while 80% of the nation’s students study in public schools.
Ehsan Azimirad, spokesperson for the Education and Research Committee of the parliament, recently stated that the national average student grade point is between 9 and 12 out of 20. For mathematics majors, the average is 9–10; for experimental sciences, about 10–11; and for humanities, 11–12, though he admitted these figures sometimes vary. Finally, the state-run Etemad daily reported on September 23 that with the start of the new academic year, many unregistered children in Sistan and Baluchestan Province have been unable to enroll in schools.
