Elementary education is mandatory under the constitution. In general, education is free of charge but private schools and universities, authorised by law in 1988, are allowed to charge fees for tuition.

SUPREME COUNCIL OF CULTURAL REVOLUTION

The Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution (SCCR) is the successor of the Cultural Revolution Headquarters which was set up after what came to be known as the cultural revolution in 1980. The SCCR is the highest policy making and the legislative body for all stages of pre-university and academic education. Its resolutions do not require parliament's approval and become law automatically. Members of the SCCR include heads of the three powers of state, prime minister, ministers of education, culture and higher education and health and medical education, as well as several cultural experts.

n Education Ministry is responsible for all stages of pre-university education.

n and Higher Education Ministry is the authority for academic education with the exception of medical education.

n Health and Medical Education Ministry is in charge of all stages of medical education.

n Islamic Open University operates independently.

PRE-UNIVERSITY EDUCATION

There are three pre-university educational stages: five years of elementary school, three years of intermediate or guidance school and four years of secondary or high school. Children enter the school at the age of 7 and normally graduate from high school at the age of 18. But it is only after completing the intermediate stage that they may choose to enter mort specialised courses in high school. Depending on their grades and reports, they may take one of the Mathematics-Physics, Economics, Human Sciences or Empirical Sciences disciplines. Alternatively, they may enter vocational courses such as the Secretarial-Business Studies course, agriculture, various technical or art courses.

Education The Education Ministry employs the highest number of civil servants - 42

Ministry per cent of the total - and receives 21 per cent of the national budget.

A Total of 17,552,092 students were enrolled in 96,474 schools with 566,836 classes throughout the country in the academic year 1993-94. The breakdown was as follows: 660 schools for exceptional children (deaf and dumb, mentally retarded etc.), 2,483 kindergartens, 61,683 elementary schools, 20,903 intermediate schools, 6,953 secondary schools, 445 technical schools, 524 business studies and vocational schools, 73 agriculture schools, 342 urban and 216 rural elementary school teacher's training colleges, seven vocational and professional teachers' training colleges and 19 institutes of technology. There are also 2,192 adult education schools.

The Education Ministry runs a number of schools outside of Iran, mainly in the Persian Gulf states as well as some European countries, in which 13,703 students are enrolled. The ministry has the responsibility for providing textbooks for all pre-university educational courses and prints 747 titles in 100 million copies a year.

Literacy The Literacy Movement is the successor of the pre-revolution Anti-Illiteracy

Movement Movement. Its aim is to use popular resources, in liaison with the Education and Construction Crusade ministries, to teach illiterate adults to read and write.

Literacy

According to the latest statistics taken in 1992, 33,966,234 people or 74.1 per cent of the total of people over six years of age were literate. The rate of literacy is 80.6 per cent for men and 67.1 per cent for women. The same statistics indicate that 86.7 per cent of men and 76.8 per cent of women, an overall average 81.9 per cent, are literate in urban areas. For rural regions the figures are 72.6 per cent, 54.2 per cent and 63.7 per cent respectively.

The literacy rate is 85.1 per cent for the Tehran province, falling to as low as 50.3 per cent in Seestan and Baluchistan and 58.9 per cent in Kurdistan.

Government measures for fighting illiteracy provide for purging its departments in the future, as well as withholding business licences from illiterate shopowners and the much needed military service termination cards from illiterate conscripts.

These statistics shows a remarkable improvement in the percentage of literacy in Iran.

HIGHER EDUCATION

CULTURE AND HIGHER EDUCATION MINISTRY

The ministry is responsible for higher education with the exception of medical and related programmes.

n It is in charge of 21 universities, three faculties, eight higher education compounds and five higher education colleges. Furthermore, it supervises the Judicial College, Hygiene Sciences College, Radio and Television College and Labour Safety and Hygiene College.

n There are forty-four universities of various types, 15 in Tehran and 29 in 14 other provinces, as well as a number of higher education colleges.

n Figures for 1993-94 indicated that the total number of students in associate degree and higher courses was 436,564, of which 312,214 were men and 124,350 women.

n Full and part time, and hourly paid teaching staff numbered 32,934 of whom 27,134 were men and 5,800 women.

n Universities accounted for 90.2 per cent of all students, university consortiums for 0.5 per cent, independent faculties for 3.6 per cent, higher education colleges for 0.30 per cent, and technical institutes for 5.4 per cent.

n The highest number of students, 168,359 was found in humanistic courses. This figure is followed by 91,236 for medical and health courses and 85,877 for engineering courses.

Cultural The most important event regarding higher education was the Cultural

Revolution Revolution in late April 1980. Moslem activist staged protests demanding a fundamental reorganisation of the educational system and a clamp-down on leftist political activities in universities in May 1980. Clashes broke out in all major higher education centres, leading to closure of all higher education institutes for the subsequent 17 months.

Ayatollah Khomeini then appointed the Cultural Revolution Panel (Setad-e Enqelab-e Farhangi), a board of Islamic educational experts, who was to restructure the educational system. The panel changed the curricula and student admission procedures and reopened the universities in October 1981. The changes however fell far short of expectations of Moslem students.

Islamic Open The Islamic Open University (IOU; Daneshgah Azad Islami) was set up in

University 1981. Not relying on government resources and aimed at using popular assistance to expand higher education, it charges rather high fees. About 387,502 students in 80 towns and cities were enrolled in the university in 1993-94, studying single subjects, or taking full time day or evening courses.

Applicants do not have to produce specific educational certificates enter the university, but its entrance examinations match those of other universities. The SCCR resolved in 1987 that certificates issued by the IOU should be recognised upon evaluation by the Culture and Higher Education Ministry.

The IOU admits students for all courses, but the highest number of its students are enrolled in humanities and pure sciences courses. It is planning to expand the engineering and medical courses, and raise the number of its students to 500,000

Education The Remote University (Daneshgah az Raah-e Dur) was set up in 1987 at

By Corres- the decision of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution. It too charges

pondence tuition fees and principally aims at providing teachers and civil servants the opportunity to continue their education. These groups form up to 80 per cent of students in some courses.

Research The government has been paying more attention to expansion of research activities and increasing the appropriations in the past few years, as a part of the self-reliance policy. Nevertheless, shortage of researchers and research facilities combined has prevented the desired expansion.

The National Research Council (Shora-ye Pajoohesh Keshvar) is the research policy making body. The Industrial and Scientific Research Organisation (Sezamen Pajoohesh-haye Elmi va Sanati) of the Culture and Higher Education Ministry carries out research for the government. Research is also undertaken in institutes other than universities.