Report on Iran’s Education Crisis and its Implications for Sustainable Development Goals
Executive Summary
A significant educational crisis is unfolding in Iran, characterized by a rising number of school dropouts. This trend is driven by a combination of severe economic hardship and systemic failures within the education sector. The situation directly undermines progress toward several key United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), most notably SDG 4 (Quality Education), and is deeply interconnected with challenges related to SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities).
Discrepancies in Dropout Data
There are conflicting reports regarding the exact number of students out of school, highlighting a potential underreporting of the crisis’s scale. The disparity between official and independent figures is substantial.
- Official Government Figure: Minister of Education Alireza Kazemi stated that 950,000 children have either dropped out or never enrolled.
- Parliamentary Commission Estimate: Farshad Ebrahimpour, a member of the Parliament Education Commission, reported in October 2024 that two million students had not registered for the 2024–2025 academic year.
Socio-Economic Barriers and their Conflict with SDG 1 and SDG 8
Widespread poverty is a primary driver forcing children out of the education system, a direct challenge to achieving SDG 1 (No Poverty). Families’ inability to cover educational costs compels many students to enter the workforce prematurely, which contravenes SDG Target 8.7, aimed at ending child labor in all its forms.
Key economic factors contributing to school dropouts include:
- Pervasive poverty preventing families from affording education.
- The necessity of child labor to supplement household income, as reported by the Donya-e-Eqtesad newspaper.
Systemic Failures and the Violation of SDG 4 (Quality Education)
The crisis is compounded by systemic deficiencies within the education system, which fail to provide an inclusive and equitable learning environment as mandated by SDG 4. These failures prevent the achievement of quality educational outcomes for all students.
Identified systemic issues include:
- Inadequate Infrastructure: Minister Kazemi acknowledged that poor educational infrastructure contributes to the problem, failing to meet SDG Target 4.a, which calls for building and upgrading education facilities.
- Deteriorating Classroom Conditions: Severely overcrowded classes, with as many as 50 students, prevent effective teaching and learning.
- Foundational Learning Gaps: Inadequate preschool programs create early learning disadvantages for children.
- Educational Inequality: Language gaps in bilingual regions create barriers for minority students, undermining SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities).
- Academic Decline: A noticeable drop in student grade averages has been cited by officials as evidence of declining educational quality.
Long-Term Consequences and Graduation Rates
The long-term impact of this crisis is severe, with a significant portion of the youth population failing to complete their basic education. This directly impedes the achievement of SDG 4’s goal of ensuring all youth complete free, equitable, and quality secondary education.
Research from Professor Gholamali Afrooz of the University of Tehran highlights the following outcomes:
- Only 70 percent of students who enter elementary school ultimately graduate from high school.
- The remaining 30 percent leave the education system without a diploma, often entering the job market without adequate skills.
1. SDGs Addressed in the Article
The article highlights issues that are directly connected to several Sustainable Development Goals, primarily focusing on education, poverty, and child labor.
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SDG 4: Quality Education
This is the most central SDG in the article. The entire text revolves around the crisis of children dropping out of school in Iran, the quality of the educational environment, and the failure to ensure all children complete their schooling. The article discusses dropout rates, poor infrastructure, and academic decline, all of which are core concerns of SDG 4.
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SDG 1: No Poverty
The article explicitly identifies economic factors as a primary cause for the education crisis. It mentions “widespread poverty,” “financial hardship,” and “families’ inability to cover education costs” as key reasons why children are leaving school. This directly links the issue of educational access to the broader problem of poverty, which SDG 1 aims to eradicate.
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SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
This goal is relevant because the article points to child labor as a direct consequence of the economic hardships families face. It states that “financial hardship and child labor to support household incomes are major drivers of school dropout rates” and that children are “entering the job market prematurely.” This connects the education crisis to the issue of child labor, which SDG 8 seeks to eliminate.
2. Specific Targets Identified
Based on the article’s content, several specific targets under the identified SDGs can be pinpointed.
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Targets under SDG 4 (Quality Education)
- Target 4.1: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education. The article directly addresses the failure to meet this target by highlighting that nearly one million to two million students are out of school and that “only 70 percent of Iranian students who enter elementary school graduate from high school.”
- Target 4.2: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education. The mention of “inadequate preschool programs” as a contributing factor to the student decline points directly to this target.
- Target 4.a: Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all. The article’s description of “poor educational infrastructure,” “deteriorating conditions in classrooms,” and “overcrowded classes” with 50 students directly relates to the failure to provide effective learning environments as stipulated in this target.
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Targets under SDG 1 (No Poverty)
- Target 1.2: By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty. The article’s emphasis on “widespread poverty” and “financial hardship” as the root causes for children dropping out of school indicates that progress on this target is failing, which in turn impacts educational outcomes.
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Targets under SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth)
- Target 8.7: Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour… and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms. The article’s statement that students are leaving school for “child labor to support household incomes” directly addresses the challenge of meeting this target.
3. Indicators Mentioned or Implied
The article provides several quantitative and qualitative data points that can serve as indicators to measure progress towards the identified targets.
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Indicators for SDG 4
- Out-of-school rate (Indicator 4.1.5): The article provides conflicting figures for the number of out-of-school children (“950,000” vs. “two million”), which is a direct measure of this indicator. It also notes that dropout rates in elementary and junior high schools had “risen in the 2023–2024 academic year.”
- Completion rate (Indicator 4.1.4): The statistic that “only 70 percent of Iranian students who enter elementary school graduate from high school” is a direct measure of the completion rate for upper secondary education.
- Measures of learning environment quality (related to Indicator 4.a.1): The article implies poor performance on this indicator by citing “overcrowded classes” with “50 people” and “poor educational infrastructure.”
- Measures of academic proficiency: The mention of “falling student grade averages” and “academic decline” serves as an implied indicator of the quality of education being provided.
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Indicators for SDG 1
- Proportion of population living below the national poverty line (Indicator 1.2.1): While no specific percentage is given, the article’s repeated references to “widespread poverty” and “financial hardship” as drivers of the crisis imply that this is a key underlying indicator.
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Indicators for SDG 8
- Proportion and number of children engaged in child labour (Indicator 8.7.1): The article explicitly identifies “child labor to support household incomes” as a major cause for school dropouts, implying that this indicator is significant and likely increasing.
4. Summary Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators
| SDGs | Targets | Indicators Identified in the Article |
|---|---|---|
| SDG 4: Quality Education |
4.1: Ensure completion of free, equitable, and quality primary and secondary education.
4.2: Ensure access to quality pre-primary education. 4.a: Build and upgrade effective learning environments. |
– Out-of-school rate (950,000 to 2 million children). – High school completion rate (only 70%). – Rising dropout rates in elementary and junior high. – Inadequate preschool programs. – Overcrowded classes (50 students). – Poor educational infrastructure. – Falling student grade averages. |
| SDG 1: No Poverty | 1.2: Reduce by half the proportion of people living in poverty. |
– Widespread poverty and financial hardship cited as a root cause. – Families’ inability to cover education costs. |
| SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth | 8.7: End child labour in all its forms. |
– Child labor to support household income is a major driver of school dropouts. – Students entering the job market prematurely. |
Source: irannewsupdate.com
