Iran, the state-run newspaper of the Iranian regime, reported that due to cuts in the Ministry of Education’s budget and the decline in people’s incomes, the government and families no longer have the same capacity as before to spend on students’ education.
The newspaper Iran wrote on Monday, December 22, quoting Hadi Mousavi-Nik, head of the Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Policy Group at the Majlis Research Center of the Iranian regime: “Over the past 15 years, government spending on the country’s education system has decreased by 12%, and on the other hand, households no longer have the same ability as before to pay for education.”
Educational Disaster in Iran: 70% of Students Suffering from Learning Poverty
According to Mousavi-Nik’s statistics, during the 2010s the share of children’s education expenses from total household expenditures was about 4%, but this figure has declined to 2% in recent years.
This official from the Majlis Research Center attributed this issue to declining household incomes and added that with the decrease in per capita income, families’ financial ability to pay for educational expenses has weakened.
As a result of the Iranian regime’s ineffective policies in the economic, domestic, and foreign policy spheres over recent decades, runaway inflation has severely affected citizens’ lives, especially low-income groups, and the prices of basic goods have seen an unprecedented surge.
Numerous reports have also highlighted the impact of the economic crisis on citizens’ mental and physical health and its consequences across various sectors, including the education system.
Deterrent factors in Iran’s education system
Continuing his remarks, Mousavi-Nik identified the reduction in household spending on children’s education as one of the reasons for the decline in students’ average grades.
He emphasized: “We have repeatedly observed in society that when economic conditions worsen, deterrent phenomena in students’ education also increase, one of the consequences of which is dropping out of school.”
In September, amid continued warnings about a wave of children dropping out of school in Iran, Alireza Kazemi, the Iranian regime’s minister of education, announced that the number of students who have dropped out nationwide has reached 950,000.
Farshad Ebrahim-Pour, a member of the Majlis Education Committee, also said in October 2024, referring to hidden statistics on children who have dropped out of school, that in the 2024–2025 academic year about two million students were not enrolled, with economic problems being the main reason.
Poverty hinders the progress of future generations
According to reports, Iran’s education crisis is not limited to school dropouts; academic decline has also become a widespread phenomenon, affecting even students who remain within the education system.
In its report, the newspaper Iran wrote that statistics show students’ average grades last year fluctuated between eight and 10, heightening concerns about the decline in education quality and the performance of the country’s education system.
Mousavi-Nik further stressed that household poverty is a major obstacle to the growth and advancement of future generations.
Citing available statistics, he said: “Intergenerational mobility among members of our society has become very weak.”
According to this official from the Majlis Research Center, if a person in Iran is in the first income decile, meaning the weakest economic level, there is a 40% probability that the next generation will also remain in the same decile.
He added that in contrast, in Canada the probability of individuals not improving their social status compared to their family background is only 20%.
