TEHRAN – By financing 120 trillion rials (about $200 million), school-building benefactors have contributed to the construction of 53 percent of the schools in the current Iranian year, which started on March 20.

In 1998, the Association of School-Building Donors was established, with donors allotting 170 billion rials (around $284,000), IRNA quoted Mohammad Reza Jafari, the CEO of the School-Building Donors Association, as saying.

In the last few years, benefactors’ contributions have tripled. They have undertaken the construction of more than half of the schools, the official added.

There are a total of 400 benefactors, both inside and outside of the country, involved in school building. They also work to improve the quality of education in schools, he further noted.

Benefactors’ share increased by 300%

On July 2, the former Education Minister Reza-Morad Sahraei said over the past three years, the share of benefactors in building schools has increased by 300 percent.

If the same trend continues, constructing schools in areas where the per capita educational space is lower than the national standard, i.e., 5.30 square meters, will naturally become a priority, he said.

Over the past three years, more than 7,000 schools with 32,000 classrooms were built in underprivileged areas, the official stressed.

The fact that 64 percent of schools are constructed in rural areas and underprivileged communities highlights efforts to expand educational equity and opportunities, Sahraei further noted.

Semi-finished projects

A sum of 60 trillion rials (around $100 million) has been allocated to completing semi-finished educational projects by the end of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2025), an official with the Ministry of Education has said.

During the late President Ebrahim Raisi’s administration, 33,000 classrooms were built and retrofitted with benefactors contributing to half of the funding, IRNA quoted Hamid-Reza Khanmohammadi as saying.
Referring to the construction of schools for refugees, the official said 111 schools have been built by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the past 10 years.

Highlighting that 600,000 foreign students are currently utilizing the educational capacities of Iran’s schools, Khanmohammadi said 22 schools are currently being constructed, and 6 projects are proposed in challenging locations, which are under review.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees should help construct up to 50 schools per year, he stressed.
MT/MG