Iran: Catastrophe in Clerical Regime’s Education System: 43% of 16.5 Million Students Suffer from Depression; Deaths on School Benches
Tuition Fees of 200 Million tomans and 40% of Graduates Unemployed
Shocking reports from state-run in Iran media have unveiled the dimensions of a major catastrophe in the clerical regime’s education system. The heartbreaking deaths of students from strokes and suicides are the direct result of a system that has subjected millions of Iranian children and adolescents to systematic depression. In an investigative report, the Jahan-e Sanat newspaper acknowledged this disaster, writing: “According to government statistics, there are approximately 16.5 million students in the country. Based on one study, nearly 43% of them suffer from depression… 19% have mild depression, 30% moderate, and 16% of the total student population suffer from severe depression” (Jahan-e Sanat – October 22). The report identifies the main causes as “academic pressure, corporal punishment, family problems, and a lack of counselors in schools.”
While the former deputy education minister admits that “in elementary schools, we have 7,700 classes with more than 40 students” (Jahan-e Sanat – October 22), education has been turned into a luxury commodity for the children of officials and those close to the government, with “private schools charging tuition fees of up to approximately 200 million tomans” per student (Ham-Mihan – August 11).
This instrumental view of students is not limited to generating revenue. The primary goal is to use children as tools to advance the regime’s sinister objectives. The Friday prayer leader of Abadan brazenly stated that to fill government ceremonies, “we must fill the void with the presence of students” (State TV – September 19). This is the same mentality that sacrificed masses of students in the Iran-Iraq war. The regime’s television proudly announced: “During the 8-year war, 36,000 students were killed” (State News Network – September 22).
The destructive cycle of this educational system is completed by the ruined future of its graduates. According to state media, “approximately 40% of the country’s total unemployed population consists of university graduates” (Bahar News – October 10).
The Education Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran calls on all honorable educators, students, and parents to protest against the clerical regime’s repressive and plundering policies in education. It also urges all international defenders of children’s and human rights, especially UNESCO and UNICEF, to break their silence and condemn the actions of the Iranian regime. Only with the overthrow of the religious dictatorship can hope to be restored to schools and students, and an educational system based on knowledge, freedom, and human dignity be established.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
24 October 2025