School Dropouts in Iran: 1 of Every 11 Female Students
Recently released official statistics show that 6% of students, or one in every 16, drop out of school. This number reaches 20% (1 of every 5 students) in the second half of secondary school.
Iran Open Data’s estimates show that this ratio rises to nearly 9% in female students, and it reaches to more than 25% in the second half of the secondary level. That means in 1 of every 11, and in the second half of secondary school, 1 of every 4 female students, drop out of school.
Recently, female students in Iran have been attacked by poisonous gas. The resulting fear and insecurity among the students and their families may be exacerbating the school dropout rate, especially for female students.
In the 2021-2022 school year, 911,000 children dropped out of primary and secondary schools, according to Majlis Research Center. According to the Ministry of Education, Iran’s total number of primary and secondary students is 15,376,000. That means 1 of every 16 students dropped out of school. This ratio has been retained from previous academic years.
Statistics show that about 60% of the students who dropped out (about 536,000 students) were in the second half of their secondary school education. An equal number of students drop out of primary school and the first half of secondary school, about 186,190 students for each.
This report does not disaggregate the dropout statistics by gender. Recently, officials announced female student dropout rates are 3 to 4 times higher than the rates for male students. Based on the above statement, if we assume 70% of students who drop out of school are female, we can estimate that about 550,000 to 600,000 female students dropped out of school last year. Considering the total population of students, this number is very high, and may be further elevated by female pupil’s increasing perception that they are studying in an unsafe environment
