The coronavirus pandemic has had a profound and long-lasting impact on education systems around the world, leading to the closure of many primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions globally. According to estimates by international organizations, as of September 30, 2020, over 1.077 billion students have been deprived of in-person education. The pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities in education, causing significant harm to children and youth from marginalized and disadvantaged communities. Nearly one-third of the world’s children do not have access to remote learning. The closure of schools has not only deprived many children and adolescents of education, but has also had widespread negative effects on their health, safety, and nutrition. Many children and adolescents rely on the free meals provided at government schools, and this group also benefits from the medical and mental health services provided by the specialized staff in schools. According to reports from the World Health Organization, the consequences of school closures have deepened gender disparities in education and could reverse the progress made in reducing these disparities

Iran

In Iran, the characteristics of crisis in the education system are also present, which cannot be hidden and concealed today. One of the biggest challenges is the lack of proper infrastructure, economic and cultural poverty, and existing gaps in society before the coronavirus, which have now become more prominent and visible.

Although schools in Iran have been divided into in-person, semi-in-person, and online learning or white, yellow, and red zones during this year, the coronavirus will have a significant impact on the lack of educational justice, with a huge wave of students, especially girls, unable to return to school.

The huge gap between poverty and wealth in Iran has challenged the education system in various dimensions and aspects. Many children do not have access to suitable devices, families are not familiar with virtual space, and the internet is not accessible to everyone. The available internet bandwidth for communication is also not suitable. In many rural areas, parents are illiterate or have low literacy, and according to information reflected in Iranian media,