Islands of "Luxury" Schools in a Sea of Public Poverty
A member of parliament has criticized the astronomical tuition fees of Tehran’s “luxury” schools, speaking of the high fees that these schools charge families for special services, including European trips. The speaker of the parliament has called for a follow-up.
In a public session of the Islamic Consultative Assembly on Sunday, May 26, MP Alireza Salimi gave a verbal warning about expensive, or "luxury," private schools in Tehran, pointing out the staggering costs that families pay to send their children to these schools.
Mehr News Agency quoted him as saying: "These schools have received 80 million tomans from families and have taken students to Sweden and France." He questioned why such schools operate in Tehran "when a significant portion of society is under economic pressure."
Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Parliament, has also asked the Parliament's Education and Research Committee to follow up on the issue of luxury schools in Tehran.
What facilities do these schools provide to their students?
ISNA News Agency conducted a field investigation into these schools in a detailed report published on Saturday, May 25. The media outlet cited Mojtaba Zeinivand, head of the Non-Governmental Schools Organization, as saying: "The maximum tuition fee for elementary schools in Tehran is 9.4 million tomans, for high schools in the first year of secondary education a maximum of 11 million tomans, and for high schools in the second year of secondary education other than 12th grade a maximum of 15 million tomans."
This is a basic amount that does not include many ancillary services and varies greatly depending on the rating of the non-profit schools. The report states that based on the model approved by the Ministry of Education, the basic tuition does not include services, food, and clothing for students, and the cost of ancillary programs in schools adds 3 to 4 million tomans to the approved tuition, which many are unable to pay in the current economic conditions.
Of course, these additional expenses at extremely "luxury" schools include many things, including foreign trips, which are sometimes several times the amount of the tuition fee.
The report ranked schools and emphasized that top-tier schools are "founded by power and wealth. Schools that are not accessible to every student, and even the education department has little power to monitor their activities."
These schools offer various levels from kindergarten to high school and charge tuition fees ranging from 15 million to 23 million tomans. The mandatory programs and services of these schools also differ significantly from other schools. From being forced to learn a specialized form of music to "a second foreign language, a specialized sport, swimming, yoga, Zumba, computer training," and so on.
Participating in special camps at these schools also involves paying tens of millions of tomans; for example, paying around 50 million tomans for a trip to France or 30 million for a trip to Sweden, as some families have mentioned.
In a situation where high prices and inflation have severely lowered the standard of living of the general public in Iran, and some are facing difficulty preparing dinner, this group of families reportedly have no problem paying exorbitant expenses.
The report also looked at non-profit secondary and tertiary schools, which offer fewer services and charge lower tuition fees. But they still sometimes have to pay up to 18 million tomans as basic tuition for high school, a fee that does not include ancillary services such as extracurricular classes.
The head of the Ministry of Education’s Non-Governmental Schools and Centers Organization has said that joint monitoring teams will be deployed with education departments in different areas of Tehran. However, it is not clear how these teams will prevent various methods of collecting tuition fees from families. Furthermore, as long as “a group has the ability to extort money,” what law can be used to prevent them from continuing this trend?
A comparison between the special educational facilities and services that this group of schools provides to students from “luxury” families in society and the deplorable state of public schools shows the depth of the disaster. A “disaster” that is not limited to Tehran and the further away from the capital, the more deplorable their situation becomes. The facilities of these schools, the dire situation of their students, and the painful incidents that have occurred in them have been repeatedly reflected in the media.
Source: DW
