Denial of Students Being Whipped in a Village: 'Fabricated and Malicious'

The Education Department of Kerman Province dismissed reports and videos of students being whipped and expelled from the school in the village of 'Makhtaarabad' in 'Roodbar Jonoub' County due to their inability to pay 30,000 tomans as 'false, fabricated, and malicious'. Mahmoud Sadeghi, a representative from Tehran in the Parliament, also mentioned on Twitter that while there is a 'lack of educational facilities' in this school that needs to be addressed, the released video is 'an awkward attempt to discredit the government'. According to IRNA news agency, the Kerman Education Department announced on Wednesday, October 21, that the video interview with the students was 'prepared and published by an individual with personal grievances against the school principal, making bizarre promises to the students'. The statement noted that 'the way the students spoke and their movements in front of the camera - which they are not professional actors and cannot hold back their laughter - is evidence of the film being fabricated'. The Tabnak website reported on Sunday, October 18, that the principal of the 'Makhtaarabad' school in Roodbar Jonoub County whipped some students for their parents' inability to pay 30,000 tomans and expelled them from school. The day before, the 'Justice-Seeking' website had released a video in which several girls, introducing themselves as students of this school, claimed they had been whipped by the school principal. Some families of these students confirmed the punishment of their children in an interview with the Tabnak website and protested against the pressure exerted by schools to collect money. However, the Kerman Education Department stated in its announcement that the village Islamic Council and the parents of the students also confirmed the 'fabrication' of this video and are strongly protesting the publication of images of their children in this interview. According to this announcement, 'relevant authorities are currently investigating the motives behind the making of this film, and the results will be announced soon'. Previously, Mohammad Mohsenbeigi, the Director General of Education in Kerman Province, had called the punishment of students for not paying for books 'false' and stated that this year about four thousand students in Roodbar Jonoub County have not paid for their textbooks. According to Mr. Beigi, school principals in these areas owe 100 million tomans to the book printing and publishing company for textbook payments. The statements of Kerman Education officials come as several news websites have published an image of a letter allegedly written by one of the students of this school regarding this incident. This student stated in the letter that the principal whipped him ten times for not paying the 30,000 tomans for books and threatened that if the money was not paid, he would 'beat him again' and expel him from school. According to this student, the principal collected 30,000 tomans from other students 'through beating'. Meanwhile, some websites reported that the families of these students have been 'threatened' that if they do not deny these reports, their children will be 'permanently expelled from school'. According to Article 30 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 'the government is obliged to provide free educational facilities for all people until the end of secondary education and to expand higher education free of charge to the extent of the country's self-sufficiency'.