Nournews: According to Iran's National Statistics Center, there were 3,980,873 students between the ages of 12-14 and 3,726,651 students in the first three years of high school during Iran’s last academic year. Out of this total, 197,690 students dropped out of school: 98,271 boys and 72,731 girls.
The number of boys dropping out was higher among elementary students and those studying in the second three years of high school.
But the question here is, “Is this number tied to the so-called ‘legal discrimination’ claimed by certain foreign media outlets, or is it due to other social, cultural, and economic factors that are not related to laws?”
Iran’s main laws clearly acknowledge the equality of education between women and men, without mentioning gender discrimination. Article 30 of Iran’s Constitutional Law, using the term “all of the nation,” says that “the government is obliged to provide free educational resources for all of the nation until the end of high school and to expand higher educational opportunities to the maximum level of the country’s self-sufficiency, free of charge.”
There is no kind of discrimination, including gender discrimination, in this article. This is the same important notion that the Deputy President in Women and Family Affairs recently pointed out.
Zahra Behrouz-Azar has stated that 98% of Iranian children are literate and that girls and boys study equally in Iranian schools. The number of girls attending universities has also increased, with more than 60% of university students being girls.
Behrouz-Azar said, “Gender discrimination in Iran’s education system is not real, and we are making efforts to reduce inequalities tied to lack of access to free and higher-quality education in some deprived districts and remote rural villages.”
So, the high number of girls dropping out of school in Iran is not related to the law but is rooted in other factors.
129 million girls worldwide have dropped out of school
According to UNICEF figures, 129 million girls have left school worldwide, 32 million of whom are of elementary school age, 30 million are in basic education, and 67 million are of high school age.
In countries affected by conflict, the number of girls leaving school is double that of girls in countries not affected.
Meanwhile, only 49% of countries have achieved equality in providing free elementary education. At the high school level, the gap widens, with only 42% of countries having reached gender equality in high school education and 24% achieving gender equality in higher education.
According to UNICEF, many factors contribute to girls dropping out, including poverty, child marriage, and gender-based violence. Some countries cannot provide hygienic conditions for girls at school, and due to poverty, families prioritize boys' education.
Poverty is the main cause of school dropouts in Iran. Among Iranian girls, in addition to poverty, marriage at a young age is another reason. Running away from troublesome families, parental addiction, lack of parental attention to girls' education, the authority and strictness of parents, and fear of remaining single are also reasons preventing some Iranian girls from accessing education. Some families, due to cultural norms, do not allow their daughters to attend school out of fear of losing their dignity (abero) and because of social pressures in their communities.
Gender equality in education is a source of progress for countries, and undoubtedly, societies where everyone has an equal right to education are more dynamic and successful.
NOURNEWS