The World Capital of "Brain Drain"

The basics of the Iranian education system are fairly similar to those in the United States. Children attend a mandatory kindergarten (Pish Dabestani) at the age of five, and then attend five years of elementary school (Dabestan) and three years of middle school (Rahnamayi). At the high school (Dabirestan) level, only the first year is mandatory and the school is divided into theoretical, technical/vocational, and manual programs. After high school, students can attend various universities, institutes of technology, and community colleges if they pass the national university entrance exam (Konkoor). University students can achieve different levels of diplomas, again similar to those available in the United States: a Fogh-Diplom (Baccalaureate in technical engineering) after two years of study, Karshenasi (or license, roughly equivalent to a Bachelor’s degree) after four years of study, a Fogh License (or Master’s Degree) after two more years of study, and finally a doctoral program (“Education in Iran”).

A History of Education in Iran
The tradition of education on the university level in Iran goes back to the early years of Islam in the seventh century. By the 20th century, however, the system had become outdated and was in the process of being remodeled along Western lines. In the early 1970s, Iran was making efforts to improve the school system by updating curriculum, introducing modern textbooks, and training teachers more efficiently (“Education in Iran”).

However, the 1979 Revolution had huge ramifications on the education system in Iran. With the wave of conservatism, the education system was Islamized and the Cultural Revolution Committee was put in charge of inserting Islamic values into education. All students were segregated by sex and within six months of the revolution, new lesson plans based on Islam were introduced. By 1983, a wing of the Cultural Revolution Committee, the Center for Textbooks created 3,000 new college-level books with Islamic views. The country’s 16 universities were closed and gradually reopened between 1982 and 1983. In the meantime, professors were investigated and dismissed if they followed Marxism, liberalism, and any other “imperialistic” ideology. They were only allowed to reopen with Islamic-based curricula (“Education in Iran”).

The education system today is mostly free for both public and private schools at all levels, elementary through university. However, university-level students are required to either serve in the government for the same number of years that they study or pay a low price (“Education in Iran”).

Issues in the Educational System Today
Surprisingly, women make up more than 50 percent of enrollment at Iranian universities, and some fields in science and engineering have faculties of 70 percent women. This progressive feminism was one good result of the 1979 Revolution (“Education in Iran”).

Literacy is a problem in Iran. According to the 2007 edition of the CIA World Factbook, 77 percent of the population over age 15 can read and write. This includes 83.5 percent of the male population and 70.4 percent of the female population (“Iran”). Before the Revolution, the government had concentrated on literacy training. A literacy corps was established in 1963 to send educated conscripts to villages, and helped 2.2 urban children and 600,000 adults become literate in its first 10 years. However, the corps was shut down in the 1979 Revolution (“Education in Iran”).

The phenomenon of “brain drain” is also a major problem in Iran. In fact, the International Monetary Fund concluded that Iran had the highest rate of “brain drain” in the world after a survey of 61 countries. Each year, more than 150,000 educated young people leave the Iran in hopes of finding a better future somewhere else. According to journalist Golnaz Esfandiari, there are several factors driving this exodus. Youth cite reasons of economics- even a well-paying job is not enough for a really comfortable life, and students can easily earn as much or more abroad. Young people are also looking for more social freedom than is available in Iran- one Iranian PhD student in Canada cited not being able to listen to his favorite music in his car in Iran, as well as facing barriers to free speech. Also, the education system is Islamized, which limits how much students can really learn. For example, the Internet is censored by authorities and libraries lack modern books. It may be difficult for students to attend conferences or submit papers to professional groups. One professor said that another reason for “brain drain” was that society has not been able to absorb new young people and respond to their needs. The unemployment rate in Iran is around 20 percent, and even higher for young people. Ideally, about a million new jobs should be created each year, but in reality, there are only about 300,000 new jobs. This forces young people to take jobs below or outside of their qualifications. The cost of “brain drain” is expensive- economic loss mounts to $50 billion a year or more (Esfandiari).

The Minister of Education
The current minister of education in Iran is Mr. Ali Reza Ali-Ahmadi. He was recently approved into his position in February 2008 and was previously the chancellor of Payam-e Nour University. He replaces Mahmoud Farshidi, who resigned in early December of 2007 (“Education Ministry Nominee Okayed”).