Nearly One Million Students Dropout from Education

According to statistics provided by the Statistical Center of Iran, approximately 970,871 students dropped out of school during the 2019-2020 academic year.

According to Hrana news agency citing Hamshahri, nearly 1 million students in the country dropped out of school during the past academic year.

Based on the Statistical Center of Iran’s report, the number of school dropouts at the primary level during the 2019-2020 academic year increased compared to previous years. As the Statistical Center of Iran announced, dropouts at the primary level in the 2016-2017 academic year were 161,867 out of 7,451,981 students. This figure increased to 210,221 out of 8,233,985 students in the 2019-2020 academic year. The share of male dropouts at the primary level in the 2016-2017 academic year was 82,004 students, which increased to 113,396 in the 2019-2020 academic year. Girls at this level also increased from 79,863 to 96,825.

Dropouts at the lower secondary and upper secondary levels in the 2016-2017 academic year were 215,681 and 370,363 respectively. These figures reached 204,735 and 565,915 respectively at the lower secondary and upper secondary levels in the 2019-2020 academic year. These numbers show that except for lower secondary education, dropout rates increased at 2 levels: primary and upper secondary.

This figure is higher among girls at the lower secondary level. The share of male dropouts in the 2016-2017 academic year at this level was 81,974, which increased to 91,796 in the 2019-2020 academic year. Girls at this level decreased from 133,707 to 112,939. At the upper secondary level, this figure for boys increased from 166,508 in the 2016-2017 academic year to 284,067 in the 2019-2020 academic year. This figure among girls increased from 203,855 to 281,848.

Among school dropouts, the share of boys is usually higher, especially at the primary and upper secondary levels, and even increased in the past academic year.

Based on these provided statistics, approximately 970,871 students dropped out of school in the country during the 2019-2020 academic year.

Source: Hrana