Ministry of Oil: We Are Not Obligated to 'Irregularly Hire' Students from the Oil Industry University

An official from Iran's Ministry of Oil responded to the protests of students and graduates from the Oil Industry University, stating that the ministry is "not obligated to hire them irregularly." Students and graduates from the Oil Industry University have refrained from attending classes for about two weeks. According to ILNA news agency, Kamran Dehghani, the Director General of Education, Planning, and Administrative Transformation at the Ministry of Oil, noted on Thursday, December 9, that "the protesting students insist on their correctness, claiming unconditional hiring in the oil industry and the Ministry of Oil's commitment to recruit them." He added, "In none of the students' references is the Ministry of Oil obligated to recruit and hire students from the Oil Industry University without criteria." He further stated that the Ministry of Oil can hire top students from the Oil Industry University without a written exam, based on organizational needs and after successfully completing other hiring stages, including interviews, medical examinations, and selections. According to the Ana news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Azad University, the Ministry of Oil is required by an employment regulation established in 2001 to meet its human resource needs from the Oil Industry University. According to this regulation, graduates ranked as 'A' from the Oil University have been prioritized for hiring and were employed without exams in the Ministry of Oil and its subsidiaries; graduates ranked 'B' and 'C' had separate quotas in hiring exams. Ana reported that the Ministry of Oil's decree and free education are other privileges of the Oil Industry University, which are certainly dependent on the primary issue of direct recruitment. However, the status of this scientific hub of the oil industry has become very complicated in recent years. The Oil Industry University is affiliated with Iran's Ministry of Oil, which began its activities in 1939 as the Abadan Technical School, and the Oil Engineering faculties in Ahvaz, Abadan, and Tehran are considered its subsidiaries. According to ILNA, the Director General of Education, Planning, and Administrative Transformation at the Ministry of Oil stated regarding the protests of the Oil Industry University students that the "message of protest" from the students and the holding of "symbolic sit-ins" in recent days not only does not prove their rightness but may also create the misunderstanding that some are seeking negative discrimination in their favor. Kamran Dehghani explained that with the establishment of dozens of oil-related fields in Iranian universities and the education of thousands in these fields, the rights of other graduates cannot be overlooked, questioning whether it is not a violation of the rights of graduates from other universities that the Ministry of Oil should recruit 90% of graduates even without interviews and contrary to its own regulations, disregarding minimum qualifications and not just exceptional qualifications. According to this report, the Ministry of Oil has called for the recruitment of 1,250 elite individuals, of which, according to a law passed by the Islamic Consultative Assembly, 25% is allocated to the Foundation of Martyrs and 5% to veterans, while 875 others will be selected from among other candidates from various universities in a competitive exam. The Director General of Education, Planning, and Administrative Transformation at the Ministry of Oil also mentioned that some protesting students "have not been able to achieve the minimum required score despite standard and equal conditions" and threatened that "if further clarification is necessary, we will publish the scores obtained in the interviews of the interviewed individuals separately along with their GPAs." According to the Young Journalists Club website, students from the Oil Industry University in Abadan on Wednesday, December 8, demanded the collective resignation of the university's board of trustees on the twelfth day of their sit-in. These students protested against what they called the "inability of the board of trustees of the Oil Industry University in preserving important privileges, including employment and decree." They criticize the Ministry of Oil for weakening the status of the Oil University in recent years. The protesting students have announced that they will continue their sit-in until they receive a response from government officials regarding the "determination of employment status." Students and graduates from the Oil Industry University in Iran have held protests in front of the Ministry of Oil and the Parliament in recent months to achieve their demands, which have so far been fruitless for the protesters. The Iranian Student Newsletter has also reported that the protesters have been complaining about the Ministry of Oil's broken promises regarding the employment of graduates from this university for over two years, which is why they have resorted to a sit-in. One protesting student from the Oil Industry University criticized what he called the "ineffectiveness" of the university's board of trustees, stating that all the university's privileges have been lost during the tenure of the board members, and the university's level has significantly declined. He added that the board of trustees announced two years ago that if they did not solve the employment issue for students, they would collectively resign and stand against the Ministry of Oil, but no action was taken. In this regard, the ISNA news agency pointed out that the board of trustees of the Oil Industry University promised collective resignation in a meeting with students in January 2016 if the Ministry of Oil did not recruit scholarship students, and now the protesting students, after two years, are demanding that this promise be fulfilled. The protesting student from the Oil Industry University mentioned the challenges facing the employment of students and graduates from this university: "We gave a notarized commitment that we must work for eight years in the Ministry of Oil, but now the Ministry of Oil does not accept the contract it itself signed." He also stated that 20 students from Abadan and 30 from Ahvaz have been summoned, and they are accused of inciting students to riot and strike at the university, as well as membership in a think tank. The Student News Agency, affiliated with the Basij Student Organization, reported that students from the Oil Faculty in Abadan protested on Tuesday against repeated summons from the disciplinary committee at the Oil University in Abadan.