Iranian Retirees Council: Educational Policies Have Separated Some Children from Schools

In a statement on the occasion of the new school year and the reopening of schools, the Iranian Retirees Council criticized the privatization of education and the monetization of schools, stating: "Public poverty and educational policies have separated some children from schools and sent them to the streets." The council announced that "the first of Mehr does not start equally for students, teachers, and families," adding: "For certain sections of society, the possibility of continuing education has essentially been eliminated, while for the wealthy one percent, luxury schools costing hundreds of millions of tomans are welcoming them." The statement continued: "Widespread and extensive discrimination in the layered, ineffective educational system has been shouted about repeatedly, but there is no ear to listen except for summoning and interrogating protesters." This professional organization added: "Wherever we look in this structure, we encounter a high wall of class, gender, ethnic, and religious discrimination. The alarming statistics of children deprived of even this half-hearted education have reached a point where members of parliament and senior managers occasionally refer to them, shedding crocodile tears to maintain their cursed seats." In recent years, teachers' and workers' unions have repeatedly criticized the privatization of education and the monetization of schools. They refer to Article 30 of the Islamic Republic's Constitution, which emphasizes that "the government is obliged to provide free education 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." The Iranian Retirees Council stated that the content of textbooks is still "full of gender stereotypes, unscientific myths, and brainwashing policies according to the opinions and culture of the government, and there is an astronomical distance from the existing reality of Iranian society and the world." The council wrote: "The right to education in the languages of ethnic groups is still ignored, and only a certain religious tendency is promoted in a discriminatory manner." Referring to the privatization of education, the council wrote: "Privatizations and their inevitable consequences are increasingly involving students in differences and discrimination," and mentioned the statistics of depression and avoidance of educational environments as "one of the achievements of these discriminations." The council emphasized that "teachers do not belong in prison," stating that in 1401, teachers, aware and united, participated in the Women, Life, Freedom revolution alongside students, workers, women, and others, chanting slogans of unity and solidarity. The statement noted that the buyout and dismissal of Mohammad Habibi, spokesperson for the Tehran Teachers' Association, on the first day of Mehr is evidence of the "systematic repression" of protesters and those who have risen against the current "intolerable" situation. Currently, several teachers and their union activists are imprisoned. Aziz Qasemzadeh, Mahmoud Malaki, Jafar Ebrahimi, Mahmoud Sedighi Pour, Anoush Adeli, Mehdi Fathi, Hashem Khashtar, Rasoul Badaghi, Ismail Abdi, Asghar Amirzadegan, Nahid Shirpich, Zeinab Hamrang, and Javad Laleh Mohammadi have been sentenced to prison by the Islamic Republic's courts on security charges. Additionally, several other teachers and their union activists, such as Sara Siyah Pour, have received prison sentences, while others have faced administrative actions and have been deprived of ranking plans. These actions have faced criticism from human rights and labor organizations worldwide. In this regard, the International Education Federation has also called for the release of all imprisoned teachers in Iran. In the conclusion of its statement, the Iranian Retirees Council introduced demands such as "eliminating all discriminations in the education system, ending privatizations, unconditional freedom for all imprisoned teachers and other activists, reinstatement of all dismissed and prematurely retired individuals, ensuring the livelihood and healthcare of teachers to the highest global standards, and the right to free and quality education for all."