Education Ministry Considers Student Punishment Cases 'Confidential'

The legal advisor of the Children’s Rights Support Association states that despite a decrease in corporal punishment of students, this issue still occurs in Iranian schools. According to the Ministry of Education, 'these cases are confidential, and if they are reported by NGOs, they claim it is black propaganda.' Faezah Rezazadeh, a lawyer and legal advisor for the Children’s Rights Support Association, mentioned on Thursday, May 17, that she has recently handled 'two cases' where in one instance a student fell into a coma due to the shock from being threatened with expulsion. She told Ham-Mihan newspaper, 'What we are witnessing is concealment, and they do not even allow NGOs to enter or for the public prosecutor to follow up.' Ms. Rezazadeh further stated that in recent cases of corporal punishment, school officials 'exerted a lot of pressure on families' and 'prevented judicial follow-ups from reaching a conclusion.' She noted that in some areas, these acts of violence are psychological, verbal, and in some cases sexual and physical. According to the Child and Adolescent Protection Law, the Ministry of Education 'must actively investigate reports of child abuse in schools.' The Ministry of Education does not publish statistics on child abuse in schools, but in recent years, there have been numerous reports of severe punishments and abuse. Nevertheless, officials from this ministry have not only failed to clarify these cases but have also denied the existence of corporal punishment and child abuse in schools. In one of the latest cases, a Ministry of Education official announced on May 7 that the ministry had filed a complaint against the producers of the series 'Tehran Snake' regarding a scene depicting corporal punishment of students.