Report on Violation of Right to Education of Students in Iran (April 2005 – March 2013)
Respecting the right to education of all citizens regardless of their religious and political beliefs, gender, and ethnicity and race is one of the most evident indications of governments’ commitment to one of the important aspect of human rights in a society. In the 34 years that Islamic Republic has ruled over Iran, numerous cases of the violation of the citizens’ right to education in Iranian universities have been reported. In May 1980, Cultural Revolution led to elimination of thousands of dissident students and professors. This trend of purging continued in the following years in various forms.
After Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office following 2005 Presidential elections, parts of Iran’s Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT)’s policies were more prominently aligned with the decisions of other suppressive institutions outside the universities, such as Ministry of Intelligence and certain sections of the Judiciary. Furthermore, as a result of MSRT’s decision and the Supreme Cultural Council’s confirmation, individuals who played important role in excluding and banning students from education have been appointed as universities’ presidents.
The current report presents, in three general parts, the preliminary information on systematic violation of the right to education of Iranian citizens. The first part of this report deals with the role of those institutions which are active in violation of the right to education of some of Iranian citizens. The second part of the report, through presenting details and examples, covers how the rights to education of the following five specific groups have been violated: “starred students”, banned/ excluded students, expelled students, religious minorities, and women. Part three of the report contains annexes which lists precise information on more than 1000 instances of violation of rights to education of Iranian citizens betweenApril 2005 and March 2013. Furthermore, evidences and documents of expelling and banning students from continuing their
Please follow the this link to read the report “Violation of Right to Education of Students in Iran”
