17% Increase in School Dropouts in Iran

The website 'Tejarat News' reported a 17% increase in school dropouts in the past academic year compared to the 2015-2016 academic year. Tejarat News cited the Research Center of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stating that over 911,000 individuals dropped out of school last academic year. The report emphasized that more than 279,000 individuals also left school during this period. This statistic was published at a time when Voice of America reported on January 1 of this year, based on statistics released by the Statistical Center of Iran, that nearly 930,000 students in primary, middle, and high school dropped out in the 2022-2023 academic year. According to this data, over 175,000 primary school students, 198,000 middle school students, and 557,000 high school students have not continued their education. The Statistical Center of the Islamic Republic also announced in October that at least '556,000 teenagers' in Iran are forced to drop out before entering high school, primarily due to 'poverty and deprivation.' A review of inflation statistics shows that inflation in Iran was around 10% in 2016 and 2017, rising above 27% in 2018. In 2019, inflation reached 35%, and in 2020 it exceeded 36%. By 2021, inflation surpassed 46% and remained above 46% in 2022.