TEHRAN – Half of the schools across Iran are built with the participation of benefactors, Mohammad Reza Jafari, CEO of the School-Building Donors Association, has said.

About 40,000 donors are active and involved in building schools across the country, he stated, adding, over 49 percent of schools, amounting to 150,000 classrooms, in the country are built with the participation of school-building benefactors.

Construction of sports spaces, libraries, and developing smart schools are among the current needs in school construction, he further highlighted.

School building benefactors have allotted a total of 34 trillion rials (nearly $130 million) to construct educational spaces across the country over the past [Iranian calendar] year (March 2021-March 2022), ISNA reported.

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

Due to the promotion of the culture of participation in school construction, school-building donors allotted trillion rials (nearly $130 million) last year, which was 170 billion rials (around $650) in 1998 when the Association of School-Building Donors was established, Education Minister Yousef Nouri said on Sunday.

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

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

The "Brick-by-brick" national plan started in the year 1399 (March 2020 – March 2021), aiming to attract public participation for school construction in deprived areas even by buying a brick.

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HIGHLIGHT: Benefactors allotted 34 trillion rials (nearly $130 million) to construct educational spaces across the country over the past [Iranian calendar] year (March 2021-March 2022).