Minister of Science Promises to Reform Student Admission Regulations

The Iranian Minister of Science called on students deprived of education to correspond with him and promised that a working group would be formed to review and reform the student admission regulations in the ministry. Mansour Gholami announced on Saturday, December 23, in an interview with ISNA news agency that a working group would be established to implement the President's directive, aimed at reviewing and reforming the regulations related to student admissions in universities and higher education institutions. According to Gholami, this working group will act through 'relevant legal authorities' to amend existing guidelines and regulations regarding student admissions. The Minister of Science did not provide further details about the timing of the formation of this working group and its actions. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, on December 19, addressed the Minister of Science at a citizens' rights conference, stating that 'there should be no star students.' In this regard, Laya Janidi, legal deputy of Hassan Rouhani, emphasized on Friday that Rouhani's directive to the Minister of Science regarding the situation of star students is 'clear and explicit,' and Mansour Gholami will 'definitely' address this issue. The Minister of Science has made contradictory statements in recent days regarding the deprivation of students from education. On December 16, he stated that there are no 'political' star students in Iran and that the problem for 'most' of these students is a 'file deficiency.' However, on Saturday, December 23, he said: 'Any of this year's candidates who believe they have been unable to enter university due to obstacles such as being star students should directly correspond with me along with their reasons so that their cases can be addressed.' He also announced that he is not responsible for students who have been 'starred' in previous years, but he will also follow up on their requests. The newspaper 'Jameh Farda' reported on December 30 that at least 150 master's and doctoral students were starred in October of this year and stated that these students faced 'file deficiency messages' and were deprived of entering universities. Following that, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a member of parliament from Tehran, announced on Sunday, December 10, that 27 people in the master's and doctoral levels have been deprived of education this academic year, and 549 have returned to university with 'commitments.' Majid Dary and Mahdieh Golroo, two deprived students, protested last week against the Minister of Science's denial of the issue of 'star students' and their continued deprivation of education by staging a sit-in in front of the Ministry of Science for several days. After that, Mahdieh Golroo met with several members of parliament and announced that at their request, they would suspend their sit-in for two weeks. According to Golroo, these parliamentarians promised that during these two weeks, they would follow up on the issue of students' deprivation of education with the Ministry of Science and security institutions. Mahdieh Golroo and Majid Dary were deprived of education due to their student activities in the early years of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency and were arrested and imprisoned several years later during the protests against the results of the 2009 presidential election. Majid Dary was released after six years, and Mahdieh Golroo after two years and four months in prison. These two and several other deprived students formed a group called the 'Council for the Defense of the Right to Education' and held gatherings to protest the deprivation of students from education. Zia Nabavi, another member of this council, was arrested in 2009 and remains imprisoned. The term 'star students' is used for students who have been deprived of continuing their education since 2006, during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, mostly for political and ideological activities. However, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated in the 2009 presidential debates that the issue of 'star students' began under previous administrations.