Iranian state media reported a concerning trend: increasing school dropout rates linked to rising poverty. The 2022-2023 academic year saw a rise in dropouts at all education levels.
According to the Iranian Statistics Center, the primary school dropout rate reached 1.2% in the new academic year, a 0.25 percentage point increase.
Donya-e-Eqtesad newspaper, reporting on student dropout and poverty, stated, “The past academic year witnessed the highest dropout rate in the past five years, even exceeding those during the pandemic when some students lacked communication devices and internet access.”
Donya-e-Eqtesad reported the previous dropout statistics for primary school at around 14,000, citing economic hardship as the primary reason.
The Statistics Center’s report further reveals a breakdown by gender in the primary grades: 1.21% dropout rate for boys and 1.19% for girls, totaling over 175,000 students.
Moving to secondary education, the dropout rate for boys in the second year (high school) reached 6.5%, while for girls it was 4.3%, totaling 197,690 students.
The dropout rate in the second year of high school also saw a significant increase, reaching over 4% (up 1.72%). Here too, girls (3.5%) had a lower dropout rate than boys (4.5%).
Reports indicate that the main reason for dropping out of school in Iran is the inability to afford the basic necessities of continuing education. In some cases, children are forced to work after dropping out to help their families financially.
Inflation’s Impact on Education
Iran has experienced a period of high and rising inflation from 2016 to 2023. This economic hardship appears to be significantly correlated with the increasing dropout trend.
While inflation hovered around 10% in 2016 and 2017, it jumped to over 27% in 2018. The following year saw inflation reach 35%, exceeding 36% in 2020. Inflation remained above 46% in both 2021 and 2022.
Interestingly, the Statistics Center’s data reflects this correlation. The primary school dropout rate in the 2016-2017 academic year was 0.99%, rising to 1.2% by 2022-2023. Similarly, the dropout rate in the first year of secondary school climbed from 4.11% to 5.47% over the same period, demonstrating an upward trend.
