War, Unstable Internet, and Postponed Exams: Uncertain Future of Education in Iran

Ali Nikzad, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, has said that final school exams will be held 15 days after the war ends, while the National University Entrance Exam (Konkur) will take place 45 days after the end of hostilities. However, with the U.S. President recently announcing an “indefinite ceasefire,” it is still unclear when the war will be officially declared over or when the academic year will resume.

Meanwhile, schools across Iran have been operating remotely for weeks. On April 27, the Ministry of Education’s public relations department said there are currently no plans to resume in-person classes. The Ministry added that “any decision regarding changes to school operations is contingent upon receiving the necessary permits from the relevant competent authorities.”

Since February 28, when the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, education in the country has shifted online. However, widespread internet disruptions and limited access to virtual classrooms have brought learning to a halt in many parts of the country. Students, especially those in underprivileged areas, are now facing a serious decline in academic progress.

At the same time, criticism of domestic education platforms such as “Shad” has grown. Many teachers and families say the platform has not been an effective replacement for in-person classes because of technical issues, repeated outages, and its failure to maintain proper communication between teachers and students.

Unstable internet has made the situation worse, pushing a section of students effectively out of the education system. This threatens to widen the education gap and cast a deeper shadow over the academic future of Iran’s younger generation.