Alarming Decline of Education in Iran

Iran's educational system is confronted with numerous challenges, including a shortage of schools, overcrowded classrooms, and a lack of trained teachers, particularly in rural and underserved regions like the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan.

In this province, tens of thousands of children do not attend school due to poverty and inadequate rural transportation facilities. Additionally, thousands more are denied access to education simply because they lack birth certificates or other identity documents.

In some impoverished areas, contributing to the failure of girls to attend school.

In 1981, two years after the Islamic Revolution, the newly established Islamic Republic lowered the minimum marriage age from 18 for girls and 20 for boys. Current laws now permit girls to marry at 13 and boys at 15, with provisions that allow for the marriage of even younger children.

According to official figures over 27,000 girls under the age of 15 had been married across the country during a nine-month period from 2021 to 2022. Additionally, nearly 70,000 girls between the ages of 10 and 19 gave birth within the span of just twelve months.

Another serious issue affecting the quality of education, Abdi said, is the university admission quotas.

These quotas benefit the family members of martyrs and veterans of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), as well as military and police personnel killed in service and other government employees. The largest quotas, however, are allocated to students from deprived areas.

These quotas allow students with lower academic achievements to gain admission to the most prestigious universities. Many believe this has significantly reduced the overall quality of higher education.

In recent years, the education ministry has hired thousands of clerics and seminary students to replace trained teachers. Critics argue that this could further compromise the quality of education for the younger generation in Iran.