Literacy is a fundamental human right. It is essential for social mobility and has become a yardstick by which the international community measures a society’s progress.

The latest statistics provided by Iran’s Literacy Movement Organisation (ILMO) are thus troubling to say the least. ILMO released the findings of a nationwide literacy investigation. The figures show that almost nine million Iranians are illiterate, with a further 11 million classified as functionally illiterate.

11% of Iranians are being left behind

These figures put the percentage of the Iranian population without communication and interpretation skills at around 11%. Given that the mullahs have worked to promote Iran as a promoter of literacy in the Middle East, these figures represent a startling revelation.

The regions worst hit are rural communities, and remote areas populated by ethnic minorities, with Sistan, Baluchestan, Khuzestan, Western Azerbaijan, and Eastern Azerbaijan among the world affected areas.

Ali Bagherzadeh, head of ILMO, offered an explanation for the poor literacy performance among the Iranian population. The Ministry of Education does not dictate that education is mandatory in Iran.

In today’s information-dense world, where an individual needs to be able to articulate and communicate effectively to carry out basic civil functions, Iranians without rudimentary education are condemned to a life of poverty.

UNESCO estimates that completing 12 years of schooling gives children an 80% chance of escaping poverty later in their lives.

Life in rural Iran

Life in rural Iran is not conducive to a child’s education. Many families cannot afford the necessary school fees. Children are also often expected to help the family work and earn a living.

Around 53% of school dropouts occur due to the family’s financial difficulties. Between 3 million and 7 million children join the workforce each year to support their family. The recent economic crisis has only exacerbated the growing problem.

Beyond financial reasons, bureaucracy and red-tape pose another barrier for rural families. Many remote communities do not have birth certificates, excluding their children from formal education.

Limited educational facilities

A lack of educational facilities for children in remote regions is another contributing factor to Iran’s high level of illiteracy.

In one village in Khuzestan, an administrative clerk described the plight of the children in the region. “About 50% of boys and almost all girls have no choice but to drop out of school because there are no middle schools here”, they said.

The lack of educational facilities disproportionately affects female students. In Hoveyzeh, for example, there are no high schools for girls. Among 40 remote villages in Khuzestan, there are no schools for girls, leading to an exceptionally high level of female illiteracy.

Even regions that have access to schools are often forced to manage with very basic facilities. Member of the mullahs’ parliament’s Health Commission, Hossein Ali Shahriari, conceded that around 500 of the schools in Sistan-o Baluchistan Province were little more than sheds or huts made of mud and stones.

Child brides

Between October 2017 and June 2018, 151,046 Iranian girls of schooling age were not enrolled in any form of education. Of the 4.23% of Iran’s students that dropped out of school in the 2017-2018 academic year, 4.17% were girls.

The vast majority of students who start the academic year at school and later drop out are female. One reason for this is that in some provinces girls are married off early for financial reasons. The girls are then unable to finish their education.

These girls become dependent on their spouses, never completing their schooling and developing the needs to function and flourish in their adult lives.

The legal age for marriage in Iran is 13 for girls and 15 for boys. However, it is possible to marry younger, providing the suiter obtains the consent of the parents and the civil court. There have been cases of child brides as young as nine or ten-years-old.

Bagherzadeh estimated that around 35% of school dropouts occurred due to “cultural issues”.

In some parts of Iran, the education of females is not valued as highly as that of males. The culture means that if the family’s resources only allow for the education of one child, the male child will always be educated before the female.

Underinvestment in education doesn’t just harm Iran’s children now; it robs them of a future. It does not equip them with the necessary skills to succeed and improve their economic standing and leaves them behind as the country moves on.

Staff Writer

The Iranian economy continues to slide. In the last six months, the rial has plunged, losing approximately half its value against other international currencies. Around one-third of Iranians are now living below the poverty line, and one in ten live in what is known as “absolute poverty”.

In one single month, between March and June, the purchasing power of Iranians fell by more than 48%. The Head of the Workers Union of Chadormalu Mining and Industrial Company, Akbar Alipour, spoke of how the falling income levels of Iranians are clearly visible in the streets. He said, “we can see very clearly how income levels, and subsequently people’s welfare, have dropped”.

The mullah’s “quick and careless formation of policies” has ravaged the economy, according to the Chairman of Tehran’s Council, Mohsen Hashemi. There is no sign of improvement in the months to come. A regime official predicted that the second half of 2018 would bring a “new wave of inflation”, leading to “even lower purchasing power”, and even more widespread poverty.

The clerical regime does not have the budget to handle another wave of inflation. It has already proven itself inept at dealing with the current economic crisis. Its responses to the economic crisis have been ineffective and merely exacerbated the situation.

An Economy Creaking under the Weight of Mismanagement

Moshen Hashemi summed up the current situation in Iran. He said, “poverty is bearing down on Iran’s society like a Tsunami”. The regime’s officials are in panic mode. A “snowball of social damages” are reaching a critical point and threaten to spiral out of control.

Alipour warned of the devastating impact falling income levels would have on Iranian families. “Many families will be falling apart”, he said, adding, “especially given the desperation of many people, including workers, are already experiencing now”.

The effects of falling income levels have already prompted mass protests and demonstrations across Iran. Recent demonstrations from merchants, truck drivers, farmers, teachers, students, investors, factory workers, and laborers have racked the country.

With a population of 60 million people, there is little doubt that further economic decline would pose a real problem for the mullahs. It would create a domestic situation where the slightest spark could ignite nationwide protests, similar to those seen in December and January, but on an even greater scale.

As the situation has worsened, the protest movement has evolved. The protests since March have targeted inflation and economic decline. The protestors slogans have called for “death to Khamenei”, and “death to Rouhani”. Khamenei himself has acknowledged the nation’s economic problems and the internal unrest.

Alipour insisted that “there has never been a time in history, where workers have been on the verge of absolute hunger like now”. The Iranian people are hungry. Hungry for food to feed their families. Hungry for economic security. Hungry for a better standard of living and welfare. And above all, hungry for regime change.

Staff Writer

A video of a police assault on street vendors went viral this week, a scene which called to mind earlier incidences of brutality toward impoverished street vendors by authorities. The video, taken on July 19th, shows municipal authorities and police in the city of Malayer attacking mentally and physically disabled street vendors. After ransacking their wares, the vendors were assaulted and then left on the streets.

 

Videos taken of the attack went viral on Persian social media this week. The public responded with anger toward the regime. Public anger and calls for regime change have continued to mount since the mass uprising began last December, with the support of the MEK. Each additional outrage fans the flames of resistance as the regime continues to weaken.

 

Even the regime’s state-run media has acknowledged the rapidly increasing theft and corruption within the regime.

 

The Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Quds Force, wrote this:

 

“Authorities are seen taking measures against various people, including street vendors, who are resorting to numerous measures to make ends meet. All the while, officials launch a 500-branch institute with large billboards across the city and no one says a word… How many small pockets must gather to have a few pockets become larger?”

 

The economic situation in Iran is so dire that the regime’s media has been forced to acknowledge the severity of the issue of poverty in Iran. More than 90% of the population currently struggles with poverty in one way or another. The MEK has previously reported on water and electricity shortages, skyrocketing inflation, unpaid wages, and lack of economic opportunities, especially for women.

Although officials are well aware of the economic conditions that cause street vendors to seek extra income to survive, they continue to send authorities to take measures against them, usually in a violent manner.

Another state-run publication, the Rokna website, called attention to the treatment of street vendors by municipalities. According to a piece posted on February 25th, 2017, titled “The municipality’s revenue is in the billions:”

“Authorities round up the street vendors’ goods unless they receive their bribes… according to the vendors, municipality authorities demand 100,000 rials each to leave them be. Considering the countless number of streets vendors in Tehran alone, the municipality is rounding up a revenue in the billions. For example, if there are 100 street vendors in Vali Asr Square, the municipality is pocketing around 300 million rials a month (equal to $7,150).”

Street vendors in Iran live in squalid conditions, according to an investigation conducted by Iran’s

Sociologist Association.  Their study found:

 

“76 percent of the street vendors have kids to feed; 90 percent have no other jobs; 98 percent of them have no other source of income; 31 percent do not even receive monthly subsidies; 43 percent have resorted to street vending due to unemployment and going bankrupt; 36 percent were previously professional workers and 21 percent ordinary workers. Only 33.5 percent of them are street vending as their first occupation. 78 percent of them are street vending due to the fact that they could not find another job.”

The study went on to say, “Street vendors are continuously facing restrictions and attacks by authorities. 88 percent of them are constantly having scuffles with the municipality and 67 percent of them have had their merchandise ransacked at least once. 18 percent of them have been forced to pay fines. If any merchandise is confiscated they’re considered stolen, as it takes at least three or four months for the street vendors to have their goods returned. Women, and especially young women, usually forgo retrieving their goods due to the fact that municipality authorities seek sexual interaction in return for their goods.”

Staff Writer