When Iranian media reported that classrooms in Tehran were overcrowded with 40 to 50 students, many expressed concern and called for immediate action.
Instead, President Massoud Pezeshkian offered a perspective that left educational experts both puzzled and shocked.
The Ministry of Education confirmed the overcrowding, acknowledging that many classes exceed the recommended 35-student limit.
Typical explanations would involve critiques of infrastructure, funding shortages, or systemic educational challenges.
Rather than decrying the packed classrooms as a problem, the president suggested the overcrowding might represent an unexpected positive - a perspective that has sparked significant debate among educators, policymakers, and parents alike.
Pezeshkian said, “In education, they used to say that classes with 40 to 45 students are bad, but from another perspective, they can actually be very good.”
He added, “We could divide the students into four groups of 10, have them form teams, discuss topics, and turn the students into the center of the learning process.”
Pezeshkian’s remarks come amid repeated warnings over the past three months about severe teacher shortages.
According to a report from the Parliament’s Research Center, the education system began this academic year short of 176,000 teachers.
While 74,000 contract teachers have been hired and retired teachers reinstated, these measures have addressed less than half of the shortage, leaving a gap of 94,000 teaching staff.
Pezeshkian’s comments sparked reactions on social media. One user on X sarcastically wrote, “Problem solved. We can even sell some schools now.”
Najat Bahrami, a journalist and former Education Ministry official, criticized Pezeshkian’s perspective as simplistic and populist. Speaking to IranWire, Bahrami said some people have a nostalgic view of the past. According to Bahrami, it’s shocking for someone with the title of president to have such a superficial view of classrooms and education.
Bahrami noted that classrooms with 45 students, especially in Iranian schools with limited facilities, effectively render meaningful education impossible.
“Even in well-equipped urban schools, a single teacher managing 40 students cannot both maintain order and effectively impart knowledge,” he said.
“When the president dismisses the education system’s challenges and calls overcrowded classrooms ‘great,’ it signals the end of that country’s educational future,” Bahrami added.
Political analyst Ali Afshari also labeled the president’s approach to educational issues, including overcrowding, as populist.
Speaking to IranWire, Afshari described Pezeshkian as an unusual person even within the Islamic Republic’s establishment, likening him to early revolutionary Basij members who remain rooted in traditional paradigms and oppose modernist thinking.
Afshari said the president adopts a populist view for all problems, disregarding the necessity of standards in education. He recalled that during his tenure as a medical school dean, Pezeshkian famously took a wheelbarrow and shovel to build a clinic himself. Such approaches, Afshari said, are unsustainable.
According to Afshari, Pezeshkian exemplifies the fact that even holding an advanced academic degree does not necessarily equate to progressive thinking or effective leadership skills.
Illiterate Students
Overcrowded classrooms with 40 students are just one of many challenges facing Iran’s education system. However, they play a major role in a bigger problem: students missing out on proper education. Rezvan Hakimzadeh, Deputy Education Minister, recently reported that 40 per cent of students face “learning poverty.”
Hakimzadeh noted that despite attending school, many students fail to acquire basic literacy skills such as reading, writing, arithmetic, and communication. The deficiency at the elementary level leads to academic struggles in later years.
Najat Bahrami told IranWire that statistics, particularly over the past decade, confirm this troubling trend.
He explained, “If we look at the grades of high school students in various fields, we’ll see this illiteracy. For example, the average scores of students in humanities for 10th, 11th, and 12th grades are below 10 out of 20. This shows that students haven’t even properly learned to read and write.”
The sharp decline in student performance contrasts with the Islamic Republic’s longstanding narrative of educational success, often bolstered by the achievements of Iranian students in international Olympiads. Bahrami said that, based on his years of teaching and administrative experience, the severe decline in literacy and education in Iran has reached alarming levels.
Pointing to poor results from Iranian students in international assessments like TIMSS and PIRLS, Bahrami said these deficiencies had already been evident in national exams.
He criticized Iran’s Sampad or “Exceptional Talents” schools, calling them part of the Islamic Republic’s lies.
These institutions isolate a select group of students, subject them to intensive training, and showcase their successes in international Olympiads as proof of the education system’s excellence.
According to Bahrami, this is a deliberate strategy to distract from the poor conditions in most schools, which fail to meet basic educational standards and lack essential resources.
“The government hides the fact that the majority of Iran’s schools are, by educational standards, ruined with no proper infrastructure or quality teaching,” Bahrami said.
Empty Pockets, Big Promises
The grim statistics of Iran’s education system go beyond declining academic performance and overcrowded classrooms.
At the start of the new school year, 20 per cent of existing schools were deemed structurally unsafe.
Around 3 million students are studying in buildings that are beyond repair and need to be demolished. In Tehran alone, there is a shortage of 13,000 classrooms.
Additionally, reports say that 750,000 students were not able to go to school this year, including 110,000 first graders. Among those who do manage to attend, nearly half fail to learn much in meaningful terms.
Despite these challenges, President Massoud Pezeshkian claimed that larger classes might actually be beneficial, suggesting that students could learn more in bigger groups.
Bahrami said that Pezeshkian’s remarks reveal an awareness of the government’s lack of financial resources.
“The president seems to know that the government cannot prioritize education or redirect funds to address the sector’s issues. Instead, the administration resorts to justifying its inaction.”
According to Bahrami, Pezeshkian’s comments imply that no substantial investment will be made in addressing the basic needs of the people, especially in education.
Overcrowded classrooms and crumbling school walls endanger students across Iran, yet the regime remains focused on boosting the population. Meanwhile, the failing education system offers little to the next generation.
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