50,000 Migrant Children in Iran Still Unenrolled in Schools

DID Press: At the beginning of new academic year, Iran’s Minister of Education announced that around 50,000 migrant children remain outside school registration system.

Minister Alireza Kazemi emphasized in a media interview that education is a right for all children, and none should be deprived of it.

He explained that approximately 600,000 migrant students attended schools in Iran last year, but this year, the number has decreased due to large-scale return of Afghanistan nationals to their home country. According to Iran’s Ministry of Interior, around two million Afghanistan nationals have left Iran, many of whom were school-age children.

Special measures are being implemented for the remaining 50,000 students, in coordination with the Ministry of Interior and centers for foreign nationals, to facilitate their enrollment, Kazemi added.

The minister stressed that all migrant children must have access to education and that legal pathways for school registration are being provided. “Education, like breathing, is a universal right, and no child should be denied this right, even if living outside their homeland,” he said.

So far, about 250,000 migrant students who have submitted the necessary documentation have been successfully enrolled.

While Iran prefers children to receive education in their home country, full educational provisions are being made for those who remain in Iran for various reasons, Kazemi concluded.