City Council Member: A Quarter of Tehran's Schools Are at Risk of Demolition
A member of the Tehran City Council's board of directors warned that more than a thousand educational institutions in Tehran are in dilapidated condition. According to the Minister of Education, 30 percent of schools in the country are dilapidated. The dilapidation of schools in the country's regions is greater than in the capital.
Zahra Nejad Bahram, a member of the Board of Directors of Tehran City Council, warned on Sunday, November 4, which is called Student Day in Iran, that the capital's schools have become unsafe and that deterioration and destruction threatens districts 9, 10, 11, 12, and 14. According to the member of the Board of Directors of Tehran City Council, the aforementioned districts have the most deteriorated and unsafe schools that are at risk of destruction.
ILNA News Agency quoted Zahra Nejad Bahram as saying that the number of dilapidated educational institutions in the capital is 1,000. The Tehran City Council member emphasized that these institutions need to be strengthened, rebuilt, and renovated.
Zahra Nejadbahram reminded: "The municipality is obliged to set up renovation and improvement committees as soon as possible in the form of the School Builders' Association, mayors, managers, regional officials, etc."
But the deterioration of schools throughout the country, and especially in remote areas of the country, is greater than in Tehran.
The issue of school deterioration is raised every year on special occasions such as the start of the school year on October 1 or Student Day (November 13). This phenomenon, which some officials in Iran refer to as a “disaster,” has become more prominent whenever walls or ceilings of educational units collapse on students, causing their deaths.
Experts say the budget allocated to the education and training department to rebuild and renovate dilapidated schools is insufficient. They warn that many of these schools could collapse if a mild earthquake hits students.
Minister of Education: 30% of the country's schools are dilapidated
Seyyed Mohammad Bathaei, the Minister of Education, has also confirmed the dilapidation of schools and the lack of funding. On the eve of Student Day on November 4, he announced that more than 30 percent of all schools in the country were dilapidated.
Regarding dilapidated schools, Bathaei said: "These schools need to be demolished, renovated, or retrofitted. The credit we need for this measure is 90 trillion tomans. This means that if one day I want to solve the problem of the educational environment once and for all, I will have to completely allocate nearly two years of education credits to this matter."
Source: DW
