Over Three Million Students in Iran Face Risk of ‘Educational Dropout’
Iran’s Ministry of Education says 3,225,000 students lack access to tablets or smartphones and cannot join the “Shad” network, facing the risk of “educational dropout”.
Rezvan Hakimzadeh, Deputy Director of Primary Education at the Ministry of Education, stated on Tuesday, August 14, that to prevent these students from dropping out of school, “they need access to educational tools,” according to ISNA.
The Iranian government launched the Shad network following the outbreak of the coronavirus in Iran and school closures to enable remote education for students.
The cheapest tablet in Iran currently costs 1.5 million tomans. Meanwhile, unstable internet connectivity, slow internet speeds, and high internet usage costs are other concerns.
The Deputy Director of Primary Education also stated that approximately 500,000 students who have not joined the Shad network are primarily foreign nationals, mostly Afghan students. The largest number of students unable to access the network due to lack of tablets live in Sistan and Baluchestan Province.
Earlier, when the Shad network was launched, Mohsen Hajimirza’i, Iran’s Minister of Education, said a significant portion of students have been deprived of remote education due to reasons such as “lack of access to the internet or communication tools.”
Internet connectivity in Iranian villages has grown significantly in recent years, but according to the Minister of Communications, approximately 20 percent of villages still lack internet access. Additionally, “unstable internet connectivity and low speeds alongside filtering of certain messaging applications” are among the persistent complaints from users.
Source: Radio Farda
