After the announcement of the results of the nationwide university entrance exam in Iran, it became public that a number of participants were unable to attend university for non-educational reasons. This sparked a renewed discussion on educational deprivation, discrimination in education, and how to address the issue of the right to education in Iran. This was not the first time that individuals in Iran were prevented from pursuing education despite their technical qualifications due to non-educational reasons. However, what made this issue more important than ever was the fact that these incidents were happening in the government’s Ministry of Science, which had promised to solve these problems with the support of the majority of civil society and had even won the election on this platform. Many expected that there would be a different approach to the issues of deprivation and discrimination in education.

This text is not about a detailed examination of Rouhani government’s performance in addressing discrimination and educational deprivation. It only intends to provide a general overview of its approach and level of success in addressing educational deprivation.

The issue of educational discrimination is a complex problem that can be divided into several roots.

1- Deprivation from education due to religious reasons, with the Bahá’ís being a prominent example.

2- Educational discrimination, due to gender, results in a decrease in the acceptance of girls and discrimination in favor of boys in universities and educational institutions.

3- Educational deprivation and discrimination against foreign nationals

4- Deprivation from education for political reasons and having a critical view or protest against the government and star students.

This article intends to briefly examine the performance of the Rouhani government’s Ministry of Science in each of these areas, assuming that according to the claims of this government and its supporters, they themselves have not been the cause of any of these discriminations and have inherited them from the past, and that this government actually intends to solve these problems.

1- There has been discrimination against followers of other religions and sects in certain fields or levels of education, or against religions that are not officially recognized in Iran, such as the Baha’i Faith, Druze, Ahl-e Haq, and others. However, the issue of being deprived of education due to one’s religion specifically refers to a decision made by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, stating that all Baha’is are deprived of education in Iranian universities and that anyone who is officially a Baha’i does not have the right to enter university and must be expelled upon discovery of their Baha’i identity. This decision has never been officially published, but it has been mentioned as the reason for the deprivation of Baha’is in various levels and institutions.

“این عکس یک پسر کوچک در حال بازی با یک توپ در پارک است”

“This picture shows a little boy playing with a ball in the park.”
Shadan Shirazi – A student deprived of education costs.

The Iranian government even prevented the continuation of the self-sufficient Baha’i university and by arresting and convicting professors and university officials, showed in a way that they do not have the right to education, not even simply in state and government universities.

President Rouhani’s record on the issue of the right to education for Baha’is has shown no progress, despite various campaigns and letters from civil activists. This year, once again, Baha’is were unable to gain admission to universities, and the obstruction of Shadan Shirazi, who ranked 113th in the math entrance exam, caused a lot of outcry. This was while Shadan had managed to pass the registration barrier for the exam, and being rejected in the selection of major showed that the view towards the education of Baha’is is still a security issue, and currently, there is no action being taken by the Rouhani government in this regard.

2- In the field of gender discrimination in education, this year also saw the continuation of segregation and allocation of fields in favor of boys, while at the same time, the extremist campaigns intensified in denouncing women’s education and work. The Rouhani government has taken steps to combat these waves of propaganda at different times, but in practice, educational discrimination and allocation of university fields have continued to harm girls.

3- In the field of educational deprivation, the government of Rouhani has attempted to address this issue by waiving the tuition fees for foreign nationals in schools. This move could have been acceptable as a first step, although there is still a long way to go to fully resolve the issue of foreign nationals’ education. (1)

4- Exclusion from higher education institutions for political reasons has been one of the most controversial and newsworthy forms of educational deprivation; because after the cultural revolution, it was never made clear which law or regulation justifies the exclusion of students. Although exclusion due to political views has been as old as the Islamic Republic itself, it has been a matter that has fluctuated in intensity and weakness during different eras of governments, depending on the level of conservatism of the ruling government and the approach of the Ministry of Science and its coordination with the Ministry of Intelligence. In Iran, after the rise of the Ahmadinejad government in 2005, the phenomenon of exclusion due to political activities intensified.

For the first time in October 2006, the term “Starred Students” became a hot topic and made headlines in various media outlets. The story was that a number of students in graduate programs were prevented from continuing their studies and were told that they had been marked as “starred” due to their political activities and were not allowed to enter the university. This project was supposed to be carried out in coordination between the Ministry of Science and the Ministry of Intelligence. Various government officials denied the existence of starred students and Ahmadinejad mocked them. This issue continued during the first four years of Ahmadinejad’s presidency and students organized and protested in various ways to defend their right to education. It became one of the slogans of Ahmadinejad’s opponents in the 2009 elections, and with the election coup, these deprivations reached their peak and more and more students were imprisoned and expelled, including activists defending the right to education.

With the departure of Ahmadinejad and the election of Hassan Rouhani as the president in the 1392 elections, hopes for resolving the issue of star students increased. In several cases, students were able to return to university and the government’s supporters used a lot of media and advertising to promote this, but with the announcement of the results of the entrance exam this year, it became clear that only a small number of deprived students, who were mostly from the circle close to the reformists, had their problem solved, and a large portion of the deprivation still remains and the majority of those who were arrested and sentenced during the Green Movement were not able to return to university.

It seems that the views of relevant institutions in this area are completely individual and based on individual assessments, and do not adhere to general and universal laws in this regard. It is not possible to determine a general pattern by examining those who have returned and those who are still deprived of education, except for the old pattern of distance and proximity to the circle of power and the degree of self and non-self.

In addition, the field of returning students whose sentences have been commuted has a easier path and several people have succeeded in returning to university through this route.

Apparently, the Rouhani government is somewhat inclined to solve this problem, and even one of the accusations against the Minister of Science during his impeachment was that he had allowed the return of “seditionist” students to the university. However, one thing that can be said with certainty is that the phenomenon of deprivation from education and the presence of “starred” students still exists in the Rouhani government, and whether this issue falls within the framework of the government’s power and authority or not, is another matter that requires further discussion.

Sources:

“Ajami, Ali, A Look at the Elimination of Tuition Fees for Non-Iranian Students, Khatt-e-Solh Monthly Magazine, Issue 40, September 2014, Page 27.”