Some Schools Refuse to Provide Students' Academic Records to Mothers

According to the state media Tasnim, "some schools refuse to provide students' academic records to their mothers" and have made "father's presence" mandatory for issuing report cards and academic files according to their own regulations. Mohammad Hossein Kafraashi, a former official of the Ministry of Education, stated regarding the limitations on mothers' authority to manage their children's educational affairs that "there is no circular prohibiting mothers from receiving students' academic records and report cards." Meanwhile, Omid Rezavand, the legal director of the Ministry of Education, claims that girls are considered mature at the age of 9 and can "obtain their academic records without the need for parental accompaniment or intervention." He further added that a 15-year-old boy can also "obtain his academic records without the need for parental accompaniment or intervention." Omid Rezavand stated: "According to the ruling of the General Assembly of the Supreme Court, minor girls at the age of 9 and boys at the age of 15 have the right to manage all non-financial matters." Regarding the equal authority of mothers and fathers over children who have not reached the maturity age defined by the Islamic Republic, he said the law explicitly considers the custody of children as "both a right and a duty of the parents; mothers can also obtain the academic records of children under the age of 9 and 15." These legal claims by this Ministry of Education official come at a time when, according to civil laws of the Islamic Republic, women's custody rights are not equal to men's, and mothers do not have guardianship rights over their children. The legal powers and responsibilities and the contradiction in the age of maturity for girls and boys in the laws of the Islamic Republic have always been criticized by human rights activists and are in conflict with human rights and children's conventions.