The Kabul Tribune (KT) — The number of foreign students enrolled in Iranian schools has fallen by nearly half, with the decline largely attributed to the deportation and return of migrants, an Iranian official said.
Nader Yarahmadi, head of the Foreign Nationals Affairs
Center at Iran’s Ministry of Interior, said the number of foreign students in
Iran has dropped from about 600,000 to 320,000. He also said Iran has imposed
stricter requirements for migrants seeking to renew their residency.
Iran’s Ministry of Education had previously reported that
about 600,000 Afghan students were studying in Iranian schools.
Yarahmadi said nearly 1.8 million undocumented migrants were
deported from Iran last year. He added that the number of foreign nationals
living in the country fell from about 6.1 million to fewer than 5 million.
The decline in the number of Afghan students comes as
Afghanistan’s education system faces severe restrictions under Taliban rule.
The Taliban have barred girls from attending secondary schools beyond sixth
grade and have banned women from universities, leaving large numbers of Afghan
girls and women without access to formal education.
The restrictions in Afghanistan have increased the
importance of education opportunities for Afghan children living in neighboring
countries, particularly Iran and Pakistan.
However, there have been repeated reports of restrictions on
the enrollment of Afghan students in Iranian schools. Such reports have emerged
from several provinces, including Fars, Kerman and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.
Human rights and migrant advocacy groups have raised
concerns over the impact of Iran’s deportation policies on Afghan families,
particularly children whose education may be disrupted when families are forced
to leave the country.
Iran hosts one of the world’s largest Afghan migrant
populations. Many Afghans have lived in Iran for years, including families who
arrived after decades of conflict and political instability in Afghanistan.
The latest figures indicate a significant reduction in the
number of foreign students receiving education in Iran at a time when Afghan
children face limited educational opportunities both inside Afghanistan and,
increasingly, in neighboring countries.
