30,000 Afghanistani Students Returned from Iran’s Khorasan Razavi

DID Press: Iran’s Khorasan Razavi province reported that around 30,000 Afghanistani students, along with their families, have left the province and returned to Afghanistan since the beginning of the year, significantly affecting classroom capacity in Mashhad city.

Amirullah Shamqadri, the province’s deputy for security and law enforcement, said on Tuesday that previously more than 75,000 Afghanistani students were enrolled in local schools, about half of whom were accompanied by undocumented family members. Most of these students have now returned to Afghanistan.

Shamqadri noted that the departure of these students is equivalent to freeing roughly 1,000 classrooms in Khorasan Razavi, with 95% having been based in Mashhad.

Approximately 35,000 Afghanistani students with legal residency permits remain enrolled in the province’s schools, he added.