(NCRI) and (PMOI / MEK Iran): The education condition on the ground is far worse than what Iranian officials claim.
There is little doubt that the fact that there are 1 million dropouts from schools in Iran is due to widespread poverty and government mismanagement. It was all made worse when COVID-19 hit the country that forced students to give up attending school early. The coronavirus has taken the lives of over 189,800 people throughout Iran, according to the Iranian opposition (NCRI) and (PMOI / MEK Iran).
Over 189,800 people have died of the coronavirus in Iran, according to reports by the Iranian opposition, The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), and the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran).
The poor quality of educational services to more remote locations has been exaggerated by the pandemic. Students in these localities don’t have parents with sufficient resources to be able to provide the most modern to their children so they can participate more easily in online educational services. In more remote areas students have to climb a nearby high point to get a connection so they can continue with their studies at home.
The Minister of Welfare and Social Security, Mohammad Shariatmadari, announced that currently there are 147,000 dropouts, which is 2 percent of the total number of Iranian students in the country. This is far fewer than any statistics coming from sources that are not influenced by the regime.
(NCRI) and (PMOI / MEK Iran): Iranian teachers have to hold their classrooms in pastures because of the lack of proper educational facilities.
One Million Dropout Students
The Director-General of the Association for Protection of Children’s Rights, Farshid Yazdani, announced that there are about 1 million students who are considered to be dropouts in Iran. The age range used is between 6 and 18 years. Statistics indicate at the moment that there are at least 500,000 illiterate children throughout the country.
Lack of Educational Facilities
Iranian students must get together around a fire to receive an education because of the lack of educational facilities in their area. With the increase in the spread of COVID-19, the Iranian government advocated using the state-run application called Shad [happy], which allows students to attend classes remotely. However, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology has never been able to solve the technical issues that would have allowed both students and teachers to have access.
(NCRI) and (PMOI / MEK Iran): Iranian students must gather around the fire to receive an education due to the lack of educational infrastructures.
Lack of Sufficient Internet Services
For example, in Khuzestan province, there are 153,000 students in about 40,000 families, but not all of them have been able to access government resources in these difficult times leading to early dropouts of students. With this lack of sufficient internet services, Iranian students have to go out of their way to attend classes.
A 2nd example is in Qazvin Province, wherein some village’s internet connections do not exist. In the winter it is almost impossible to visit nearby villages to access the internet.
Out of 100 villages in Auj county, 36 villages lack internet services. Ali Asghari said in an interview with Mehr News Agency, that, “233 villages have no access to the internet throughout the province.” He said that this wasn’t the only reason for dropping out of school but the other was the poor conditions of the school buildings making it hard to learn.
Suicide Because of Poverty
Furthermore, persistent poverty has meant many families now try to survive below the poverty line which means they cannot afford to provide internet connectivity for their children. In some of the worse cases, this has led to suicide.
(NCRI) and (PMOI / MEK Iran): Families now try to survive below the poverty line which means they cannot afford to provide internet connectivity for their children. In some of the worse cases, this has led to suicide.
and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTube