TEHRAN – The national budget bill for the next [Iranian calendar] year (starting on March 21, 2022) has proposed a 17-percent rise for the renovation of schools.

A total of 28 trillion rials (nearly $102 million) was proposed for school renovation in the budget bill, which is 17 percent higher than that of the current year, Mehrollah Rakhshanimehr, director of the Organization for Development, Renovation, and Equipping Schools, said.

Since 2017, the government has contributed more than 60 trillion rials (nearly $218 million) to school-building donors, he added.

A total of 28 trillion rials (nearly $102 million) was proposed for school renovation in the budget bill. President Ebrahim Raisi submitted the administration’s draft of the national budget bill for the next Iranian calendar year 1401, to the Majlis on December 12. The proposed budget amounted to about 36.31 quadrillion rials (about $123 billion).

Supplying basic goods, treatment, and medical equipment; securing livelihood; supporting production and employment; promoting and supporting non-oil exports and knowledge-based companies are the focal points of the bill.

School building benefactors

Last year, school building benefactors have allocated a sum of 33 trillion rials (around $781 million at the official rate of 42,000 rials) to construct educational spaces across the country, IRNA reported.

"Brick-by-brick" national plan started early last year (March 2020 – March 2021), aiming to attract public participation for school construction in deprived areas even by buying a brick.

Iran has many school-building benefactors amounting to 650,000 people inside and 1,000 people outside the country.

A total of 36 trillion rials (nearly $857 million at the official rate of 42,000 rials) has been allocated to renovate the schools nationwide over the past 8 years, Seyed Mohammad-Ali Afshani, former head of the Organization for Development, Renovation, and Equipping Schools, said.

According to Nasser Ghofli, the director of the School-Building Donors Association, 400 school-building charities have been registered in the country so far.

107,000 schools need renovation nationwide

There are some 107,000 schools nationwide with 530,000 classes, 160,000 of which are dilapidated, not meeting safety standards, accounting for 30 percent of the schools nationwide.

Rakhshanimehr said in August 2020 that some 30 percent of the country’s schools have been constructed by school-building benefactors and there are 450 school-building charities in Iran.

Iran has many school-building benefactors amounting to 650,000 people inside and 1,000 people outside the country.

About 10 percent of charitable schools are built with the participation of charities abroad. This is a valuable asset, which should be promoted.

The Organization for Development, Renovation, and Equipping Schools started operating in the Iranian calendar year 1396 (March 2017-March 2018), which received a budget of 8.5 trillion rials (about $200 million).

FB/MG