Deputy Health Minister Reports Severe Shortage of Dormitories and Classes for Medical Students

The Deputy Minister of Education in the Ministry of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education stated that there is a severe shortage of dormitories for medical students, and medical classes are sometimes held with '200 students.' Jalil Hosseini said on Sunday, January 9, during a press conference that some medical students are living in dormitory rooms with 10 to 14 people. He also emphasized the lack of university space for these students, mentioning that the cafeteria lines are long and classes that should accommodate 50 students are sometimes held with 200. He continued by stating that despite the policy to increase the capacity of medical students, no resources have been provided, saying, 'We started with eight thousand admissions and now we have fifteen thousand.' He noted that '95 percent of foreign students' in Iran are from Iraq and Afghanistan. The Deputy Minister also mentioned that the increase in medical admission capacity will be halted from the 1405 entrance exam. This comes as in previous years, officials of the Islamic Republic have emphasized the shortage of medical personnel and criticized the emigration of doctors and nurses. However, officials from the Ministry of Health have previously announced the acceptance of students from neighboring countries to study in Iran, and government officials have recently emphasized their willingness to accept students from Iraq and Lebanon. Two days before the Deputy Minister's report on the severe shortage of dormitories and classes for Iranian students, Hossein Simayi, the Minister of Science, stated on January 7 that 'we are ready to accept talented and motivated Iraqi students in the best universities.' The Tasnim news agency, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported on November 26 that '56 thousand students from Iraq' and '33 thousand students from Afghanistan' have been attracted to study in Iran. Meanwhile, according to statistics from the Institute for Research and Planning in Higher Education, in the year 1400, there were only 'about 9 thousand Afghan students' studying in universities, and with the undifferentiated statistics cited in the Tasnim report, it is unclear how many of the '33 thousand students from Afghanistan' are currently studying in academic centers. At the same time, it is unclear how many of the 56 thousand Iraqi students studying in Iran, as stated by Mr. Dadashpour, are clerics or members of the Hashd al-Shaabi forces. Hussein Mousavi Bakhti, the Deputy for Education and Training of Hashd al-Shaabi, announced during a trip to Tehran last July that there was 'agreement and cooperation with Tehran University.' Mohammad Zolfi Gol, the Minister of Science in Ebrahim Raisi's government, also stated a few days after the protests that student admissions to Iranian universities are conducted in various ways and claimed that 'scientific standards' would be observed in the entry of Hashd al-Shaabi members to Tehran University.