By Jubin Katiraie
In all countries across the globe, the education system is responsible to educate and train next generations destined take the wheel of the nation in the near future. In this regard, it is expected that Iran’s Ministry of Education play a vital role in the fate of the country.The Iranian authorities, however, display behavior going completely against this goal.
2018: Schoolchildren dropout exceeds 7.4 million
During 2018 alone, the number of dropout children exceeded 7.4 million in Iran. This national disaster has continued in 2019 by forcing millions of students to dropout due to high tuition, stationary fees, etc. The Iranian officials, however, do not pay attention to the country’s horrible educating conditions. No doubt, the Islamic Republic’s policies inside Iran and abroad not only waste national resources, they also result in several irreparable catastrophes. The authorities’ negligence in this specified context synonyms the annihilation of the real human asset of Iran. This is taking place simultaneously with the Iranian rulers’ generous contribution in the billions of dollars to their proxies in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon.
Lack of primary schools in Tehran
On the other hand, lack of schools and poverty seriously deprive Iranian children and teenagers from education. It is worth noting that based on international estimates, Iran poses 10% of the world’s national resources with 1% of the global population.
Previously, it was assumed that only the people of provinces far from the capital are suffering from lack of schools. On October 10, Mojtaba Khanjani, the mayor of Baharestan, a town of Tehran province, acknowledged, “30% of schools in Baharestan are worn out and in need of repair based on national standards.”
“We currently need 120 new schools in this town,” he added. The Iranian officials, however, do not explain how they spend the tax incomes.
Iranian families have to sell furniture to provide education costs
The semi-official Tasnim news agency [affiliated to the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Quds Force] wrote, “More than 9% of Iranian families have to sell their furniture to provide the expenses of their children education.” All the while, based on Iran’s constitution, public education until the end of high school should be free of cost. Of course, this pledge, like many others from Iran’s rulers, have remained unfulfilled. In fact, in Iran 10 million people are illiterate and 15 million have a shortage in education.
However, many educated people and graduates remain unemployed. “44% of unemployed people have college degrees,” said Saeed Namaki, Iran’s Minister of Health and Medical Education.
Iran’s younger generation rejects rulers’ fundamentalist beliefs
In conclusion, despite the Iranian authorities’ squander of national wealth on excessive projects rendering a large number of citizens as illiterates, the younger generation never surrender and sand at the forefront of the Iranian struggle for basic rights.
As the authorities have reiterated their concerns over the Iranian youth’s escalating wrath, it is the power and capacity of this generation that is now challenging the very foundation of this country’s rulers more than ever before.
