![\"iran](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/iran-university-girls-teacher-professor-associate.jpg\" "\\"iran")
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Beginning in the current academic year in Iran, effective September 23, following a decision by Mehdi Tehranchi, the president of Azad University, a significant number of associate professors, totaling 32,000 across various units and disciplines, have been relieved of their positions.<\/p>\n
As reported by the state-run “Etemad” newspaper on October 12<\/a>, these professors have been replaced by 20,000 doctoral students who are in their first or second semester at Azad University and are actively engaged in their studies.<\/p>\n These doctoral students, upon completing a 40-hour educational course titled “Schooling,” have assumed academic positions at Azad University. In recognition of their roles, these new “professors” are expected to receive a scholarship and benefit from reduced tuition fees.<\/p>\n The decision made by the president of Azad University comes at a time when the clerical regime has already dismissed hundreds of professors<\/a> and educational staff from universities across the country. These individuals were regarded as sympathetic toward protests and students engaged in the 2022 nationwide uprising.<\/p>\n As a consequence of the recent Azad University decision, tens of thousands have lost their primary source of income, with no other job opportunities on the horizon. This predicament arises primarily because many of them, after dedicating one or two decades to teaching at Azad University, have surpassed the age limit for employment in academic positions within universities or governmental institutions.<\/p>\n According to a clause in the 2018 directive of the Central Organization of the Azad University, which seems to have played a significant role in the president of the Azad University’s decision to suddenly remove 32,000 associate professors, “If an associate professor loses the general teaching conditions<\/em>, the university’s academic affairs will proceed to revoke the allocated teaching ID.”<\/p>\n For decades, the clerical regime has been using security forces in #Iran<\/a>'s academia to quell dissent and eliminate intellectual movements. This writing explains if it has or will succeed. https:\/\/t.co\/4aA0zkjZ19<\/a><\/p>\n — NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) July 22, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n