30 Percent of Schools in Tehran Province Are Dilapidated

The Director General of Education in the counties of Tehran Province states that 30 percent of schools and educational spaces in Tehran Province need demolition and reconstruction. According to Tasnim, Abdolreza Fooladvand on Saturday, January 22, identified the dilapidation of educational spaces as one of the most significant problems in education and mentioned that there is insufficient budget for the renovation of educational facilities. The Ministry of Education is the most costly ministry in the government. This ministry received the highest budget among 18 ministries in the budget bill for the year 2016, amounting to 28,540 billion tomans, which is a 21 percent increase compared to 2015. In the budget bill for 2017, the Ministry of Education was allocated 31,681 billion tomans, of which only 814 billion tomans was allocated to the Organization for Renovation, Development, and Equipment of Schools. Meanwhile, it has been stated that due to the large number of employees in this ministry and ongoing expenses, the ministry lacks the capacity to renovate and secure schools. According to education officials, with the current budgets, it would take decades to renovate schools in Iran. As stated by Morteza Raeisi, head of the Organization for Renovation, Development, and Equipment of Schools, 10 percent of schools across the country need to be demolished, and 20 percent require upgrading and strengthening. According to the head of the organization, the renovation and strengthening of these schools require a budget of three billion dollars. Based on statistics published by the state newspaper Iran, there are approximately 530,000 classrooms across Iran, one-third of which do not meet safety standards. According to this report, there are 1,300 clay and mud classrooms in the country, with about 50 percent of these located in Sistan and Baluchestan Province. Additionally, according to the Ministry of Education's statistics, Tehran, Razavi Khorasan, East Azerbaijan, and Sistan and Baluchestan provinces have the highest number of dilapidated schools. The unsafe heating systems and the use of dangerous oil heaters have become one of the problems for schools in cities and villages in Iran. The incident at the girls' school in the village of Shinabad in Piranshahr in 2012 is just one of the many examples of school accidents in Iran that resulted in the burning of 29 students. In this context, the fingers of three students from the Shinabad school were severed, and the compensation for the victims has not yet been paid. A member of parliament stated that the condition of the three Shinabad students is critical.