2020

COMPARATIVE
EDUCATION
EDU 019
Current Updates of Educational System in Iran

Prepared by:
LARRIZA JANE F. GALVAN
9/2/2020
30 Facts on the Education System of Iran
January 4th, 2018

Given these recent developments in Iran, where protests have broken out in towns
and cities throughout the country, we would like to spotlight Iran and share with you the
following facts on the country and its education system:
1. Iran is one of the oldest nations in the world, with a history dating back tens of
thousands of years. The country’s first great city, Susa, was built on the central
plateau around 3200 B.C.

2. Iran (pronounced ee-RAHN), formerly known as Persia, is situated at the

crossroads of Central Asia, South Asia, and the Arab states of the Middle East.
The name “Iran” means “land of the Aryans.”

3. Iran is a republic in Central Asia, sharing a border with seven countries:

Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey, and Turkmenistan.

4. It has been officially known as the Islamic Republic of Iran since the overthrow of
the Shah in 1979.

5. Iran is a Shiite Muslim country, but the majority of its people are Persian, not
Arab.

6. Iran’s capital is Tehran.

Tehran: Azadi Monument (formerly Shahyad Monument)

7. Iran has a population of 80,840,713 (median age 28) and covers an area that is
636,372 square miles (1,648,195 square kilometers), slightly smaller than Alaksa.

8. Official language of instruction in Iran is Farsi/Persian. English and/or French are

taught in most private schools.

9. According to 2015 estimates, the literacy rates of total population age 15 and over
is 86.8% of which 92.1% are male and 82.5% are female.

10. According to 2013 reports, Iran spends 3.7 of GDP on education.

11. Starting with 7th grade, English is taught as a second language in all public
schools and is compulsory through the secondary level years.

12. Primary school is called “Dabestan” and includes grades 1 to 5 (ages 6 to 11). At
the end of the 5th year, students take a nation-wide exam which they must pass in
order to continue to the next cycle.

13. Middle school is called Rahnamaei also known as Lower Secondary School
(Guidance) and includes grades 6 to 8 (ages 11 to 14). At the end of the 3rd year
of middle school, students take a region-wide exam administered by the local
provisional board of education which they must pass in order to continue to the
next cycle.

14. Secondary school is called Dabirestan and includes grades 9 to 12 (ages 14 to 17).
The 4th year of grade 12 includes a college-preparatory year known as Pish-
daneshgahi. In dabirestan, students choose subjects from either one of two tracks:
 1) academic/general track that includes a] physics-mathematics, b] socio-
economics, c] literature and culture, and d] experimental sciences; or 2)
technical/vocational track in such areas as business and agriculture. On
completion of 3 years of study (Grade 11), students receive their diploma before
they are determined eligible to continue onto the 12th year (Grade 12) pish-
daneshgahi studies.

15. Pre-university or Pish-Daneshgahi is the 4th year extension (Grade 12) to

secondary school and last one year. It is an intensive year of study intended to
prepare students for the national university entrance examination known as the
Concour.

16. The Concour determines students’ chances to enter public and some private
universities in Iran. It is a very challenging examination and only minorities of
students who take it are successful in passing.

Photo Credit:PressTV – University Entrance Exam (Concours) in Tehran

17. At the higher education level, Iran has private, public and state affiliated
universities.

18. Universities, institutes of technology, medical schools, and community colleges

make up the higher education sector.

19. Except for medical schools, all state-run universities are under the direct
supervision of the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology.
Medical schools are under the supervision of the Ministry of Health, Treatment,
and Medical Education.

20. Currently, there are over 50 public universities and over 40 public institutions
specializing in medical study and 200 private postsecondary institutions in Iran.

21. Tuition at public universities is free.

22. Private institutions charge fees.

23. The largest private institution in Iran is Islamic Azad University.

24. Women make up more than 60 percent of the college population in Iran but less
than 20 percent of the working population.

25. Out of 1.176 million people registered for higher education in the Iranian
academic year of 2012-2013, women accounted for 522,248 (44.38 percent) while
men’s share stood at 654,593 (55.62 percent).

26. The number of female university students also increased by almost twofold from
1,231,035 in the Iranian academic year of 2005-2006 to 2,106,639 in 2012-2013.

Photo Credit: Ebrahim Norrozi/AP – Iranian women, shown here in downtown Tehran, are among
groups in the country pushing for social and economic change.

27. Distance learning degree programs are provided mainly by the University of
Payam-e-Hour.

28. University degrees in Iran include:

• Kardani (formerly Fogh-Diplom) – 2-year program equivalent to the
Associate degree;
• Karshenasi (formerly Licence) – 4-year program equivalent to the Bachelor’s
degree;
• Karshenasi Arshad (formerly Fogh-Licence) – 2-year program beyond the
Karshenasi equivalent to the Master’s degree;
• Doctora (Doctorate) degree – 3-year program; requires a master’s (Karshenasi)
degree for admission and is awarded on completion of 60 semester units and
passing a comprehensive exam before entering the research phase of the program,
during which they prepare and defend their dissertation.
 • Specialized Doctorates – Degrees in dentistry, medicine, pharmacy, veterinary
medicine are awarded after 6 years of study and a thesis and require completion of
the pre-university year for admission.

29. Grading system at primary through university is based on a 0-20 scale. At the
primary, secondary level, and undergraduate levels, an average grade of 10 is
required for promotion to the next academic grade. At the graduate level the
minimum average grade is 12 and in doctoral programs the minimum average is
14.

30. Every year about 150,000 highly talented Iranians emigrate in what the
International Monetary Fund calls the highest brain drain in the world.

Bonus Fact:
Since we love cats here at ACEI, here’s a bonus fact on the Persian cat; one of the
world’s oldest breeds. They originated in the high plateaus of Iran where their long silky
fur protected them from the cold. Italian traders brought the breed to Europe in the 17th
century, where they became an exotic status symbol.
REFLECTION
In societies in which the educational system is centralized and in the control of its
government, political, social and economic approaches cause some changes, directly or
indirectly, in the structure and content of the educational system. The political, social,
economic and cultural approaches of the government have always affected the
educational system of Iran after the Islamic Revolution due to centralized political and
ideological system. Reviewing the changes and evolutions created in the educational
system after the Islamic Revolution shows that these changes and evolutions have caused
no more than conservative and superficial changes to the educational system rather than
creating a background for the creation of an evolutionary system. Failure to provide
political, cultural, economic and educational fields on the one hand, and, on the other, the
obligation of the educational system in realizing the ideas, tendencies and political needs
of the dominant political parties during the four decades after the Islamic Revolution
have been an obstacles on the journey of creating an evolutionary educational system. In
such a situation, the results and outputs of the educational system are unable to improve
and develop long term quality at different levels and dimensions of society, and it
becomes distant from goals such as the creation of an appropriate society. Creation of
evolutionary changes also needs synchronized and up-to-date considerations; but
achieving this goal is not possible by preserving previous structures and conservative
processes.
These have clearly been some changes in the education system in Iran just
recently because it is the only way to explain how people up to the age of 24 are suddenly
more literate and educated than people older than that age. Iran’s education system faces
with deep reform and change; it can help the civil society to follow up their reformist
wants Iranian society is relatively more vibrant than its theocratic regime. In Iran, more
girls go to college than a boy which is a miracle among all Islamic culture dominated
societies. This country tried to fabricate French education, which by itself already proves
the Iranian people down deep appreciate delicate cultures. The Iran secondary school
system was very similar to US and other Eastern European systems with going up to the
grade 12. The interesting fact is that more women attend university but it does not
translate to the work force. Women are being educated so there is a value for all Iran
citizens but traditional and historically patriarchal systems keep women in the home.
Iranian society had once been on a modernizing cause in its history but that cause is
interrupted by the Islamic revolution. However, some of the establishments of
modernization are preserved and Iran’s education system is one of them.
Those who ponder the paradigm of ‘change within the educational system’ are
similar to lowlanders with a rope in their hands who want to rescue the crisis-affected
ship of education from drowning and guide it to the beach, while in fact no more is
needed than an oar in order for the boat to reach the beach. What have happened during
the four decades of evolution in Iran’s educational system have been rope-based and not
oar-based changes. Although during the last four decades the ship of the educational
system has witnessed huge waves, produced by lowlanders, with the subsiding of those
waves it has returned to its first place. Therefore in order to create an evolutionary
educational system, on the one hand it is necessary to revise fundamentally the quality
and the level of the relationships between the government of Iran and the educational
system, in order to decrease those relationships and interventions.
REFERENCE

https://acei-global.blog/2018/01/04/30-facts-on-the-education-system-of-iran-2/