15 million and 138,523 people; this number makes up the student population of Iran, of which according to Ministry of Education officials, slightly more than 12.2 million people use the Shad system. (1) This means that more than 3 million people are unable to use this system for various reasons. This is happening while 75 days of the school year have passed and despite all the campaigns, festivals, and other measures, the necessary equipment for virtual education has not been provided for the remaining students; a situation that could lead to dropping out of school for these individuals. This is happening while in many rural areas of Iran, there is no access to the internet and to form rural classes, one must travel to elevated areas, which in itself is dangerous. Let’s also consider the shortcomings of the Shad system, which according to the Minister of Education, still has issues after six months, such as reduced speed during certain hours of the day. (2)

Coronavirus came and everything changed.

More than 9 months have passed since the outbreak of the coronavirus in Iran. This virus, which was initially concealed by the authorities of the Islamic Republic, has now become a deadly plague for Iranians, sending hundreds of people to their graves every day according to the confirmed statistics of the Ministry of Health. The lack of management and coordination among the three branches of government and the delay in decision-making has further contributed to the spread of the virus, which in other countries has reached the second peak and is almost under control, but in Iran it continues to wreak havoc. The performance of the Ministry of Education, given the presence of more than 15 million students in Iran, was crucial and influential. This ministry, under the supervision of Mr. Mohsen Haji Mirzaei, was determined to send all students back to school on September 6th. This decision was met with protests and criticism from students and their parents on social media, as it went against the decisions of the National Coronavirus Task Force

The direct connection between deprivation of education and smartphones during the coronavirus period.
Exclusion from education until 1398 was mostly due to “lack of schools” in certain parts of Iran. However, we should not neglect foreign students who are unable to continue their education in Iran due to lack of identity or having non-Iranian parents.
But this year, the situation became different with the outbreak of Corona. If we look for the reasons for staying out of school this year, we need to take advantage of a tool that requires the Shad system to be implemented. Earlier in August 1399, “Rezvaneh Hakimzadeh”, Deputy of Elementary Education at the Ministry of Education, had mentioned the statistics and reasons for the exclusion of three million and 255 thousand students from education, stating that “lack of smart communication tools such as tablets and mobile phones” was the main and major reason for exclusion from virtual education.
This issue gradually became a reality with the start of the school year and added other deep aspects to it. Prom

Eternal survivors of education

No one can hide the direct connection between “lack of necessary tools to connect to the Shad network” and “poverty” in Iran. The majority of these students’ families do not have the ability to provide them with a smartphone, tablet, or other tools for virtual education, and this prevents them from taking a step towards education, which is their undeniable right, every day of the school year.

In the past two months, several news stories about student suicides have been published in the media, with the reason being cited as not having a smartphone. The mother of Mohammad Mousavi Zadeh, an 11-year-old student from Bandar Deyr, Bushehr, who committed suicide in September of this year, stated that the reason for her son’s self-inflicted death was not having a smartphone to access the Shad network and not having the financial ability to buy one. In the same month, several other student suicides were reported for similar reasons. Although the

Which provinces have students been deprived of education?

A look at the provincial news in the past two months shows that deprivation from education is not limited to a specific region. In Tehran, which is considered the heart of all social classes, many students have been left behind, including in border provinces such as Sistan and Baluchestan. Isfahan, Kermanshah, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Lorestan, Kerman, Khuzestan, Bushehr, Bandar Abbas, three provinces in Khorasan and three northern provinces are among the provinces that have the most news about the lack of smart tools for their students in the Iranian media (8). This does not mean that the situation in other provinces is ideal, and as mentioned before, deprivation from education does not recognize geographical boundaries due to not being connected to the Shad system.
According to the latest statistics as of November 17th, four thousand students in Mazandaran (9) are without smart educational equipment. On November

Lack of internet access is another challenge of virtual education.

One of the other factors that has had a significant impact on the inaccuracy of the registration of 3,225,000 students in the Shad system is the lack of internet coverage in some areas. On October 4, 2020, Hassan Al-Husseini (11), the responsible for the Shad educational network program, confirmed this issue, saying: “11 million and 408,000 students have been identified in the Shad network. Of the 11 million students, 20% are not active in the Shad network, although they have completed the registration process. In fact, 62.58% of the country’s students are present in Shad.” This official also stated: “About 3.2 to 5.5 million people, equivalent to 21% of all students, do not have access to smart receivers or are in a place where they do not have access to the software.” On Wednesday, November 20 of this year,

Sources:

1 – IRNA, news code: 84084056
2 – IRNA, news code: 84114949
3 – ISNA, news code: 99051309750
4 – Jam-e Jam Online Information and News Base, news code: 1477243
5 – Fararu, news code: 457973
6 – Hamshahri Online, news code: 559357
7 – Iran Wire, Taha’s suicide, 12-year-old in “Momo Challenge”, Pouyan Khoshhal, Tuesday, November 3, 2020
8 – Hamshahri Online, news code: 565094
9 – IRNA, news code: 84111512
10 – IRNA, news code: 84102674
11 – IRNA, news code: 84064085
12 – Khabar Online, news code: 1454604