TEHRAN – An educational institution will be built for Afghan refugees with the participation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, ISNA reported on Tuesday.

The school is constructed in an area of 1,675 square meters with a credit of 150 billion rials (nearly $3.5 million at the official rate of 42,000 rials), Alireza Kamraei, deputy minister of education stated.

Iran spends about 20 trillion rials (nearly $477 million) annually on the education of foreign national students. He announced that more than half a million Afghan students attended Iranian schools last school year (September 2020).

The Ministry of Education pays special attention to the construction of schools for Afghan nationals residing in Iran and has taken a rapid approach in this regard, he stated.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei placed special emphasis on "covering the education of foreign nationals" and this enabled these students to enjoy educational facilities and services just like Iranian students, he said.

Supports for Afghan refugees in Iran

Iran is hosting the world's fourth-largest refugee community. The country has generously hosted approximately 1 million refugees for the past 30 years.

Scholarships will increase to 35 this year from 20 in previous years. Based on the latest statistics, over 3 million Afghans are living in Iran - some 780,000 Afghan refugees, over 2 million undocumented Afghans, and another 600,000 Afghan passport-holders with Iranian visas.

Iran spends about 20 trillion rials (nearly $477 million at the official rate of 42,000 rials) every year on the education of foreign national students residing in the country, head of the international affairs department of the Ministry of Education Gholamreza Karimi said in March.

Over 474,000 Afghan national children are receiving education in Iran completely free of charge, he added.

Out of 970,000 foreigners (men and women) in working-age of 15 to 60 years, some 36,000 are under social insurance coverage in the country, head of Social Security Organization’s department for foreign nationals Ahmad Reza Khazaei said in July 2018.

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