Thirteen Baha’is Have Been Barred From Higher Education So Far This Year

Tehran resident Negar Sobhani Azabadi has become the 13th Baha’i citizen this year to be barred from higher education on the grounds of her faith.

HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, has identified one more examinee of the university entrance exam who has been rejected due to her belief in the Baha’i faith.

Azabadi received the rejection message when visiting the school website to view her exam results. It read “Rejected due to General ineligibility”, indicating that she had been identified as Baha’i and was thus ineligible to enter the university.

Each year, there are numerous reports about Baha’is who are barred from higher education once detected as Baha’is even on the verge of graduation.

At odds with Iran’s law clarifying the rights to education indiscriminately for all citizens, the enactment of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution of Iran, which oversees to ensure that education and culture remain Islamic, barres Baha’is from taking an occupational position as well as tertiary education.

 

Chahardangeh Head of Education says 20% of the District’s School Buildings are Unsafe

The Head of Education in Chahardangeh, one of the six districts of Sari city in Mazandaran Province, recently commented on the effects that authorities’ infrastructural negligence have had on the area.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Chahardangeh suffers from poor roads, water shortages, healthcare, and waste disposal, besides the lack of proper educational facilities for students in this area.

Chahardangeh Head of Education Hamed Khalili said that 20 percent of the district’s schools have unsafe buildings in the district and that three of the schools’ classrooms in the villages of Peshert, Elyerd, and Vestmin are mobile temporary classrooms.

Several schools in this section also need to be demolished and some need building reinforcements.

Khalili stressed the lack of proper educational facilities, worn-out buildings, and the living problems of students in the area. He further said that students’ lives could be endangered by natural disasters such as earthquakes if repairs are not made soon.

Azad University Threatens to Expel Students Protesting Professor Who Killed a Healthy Dog For Dissection

On Tuesday, June 16, a professor of Veterinary Medicine in the Shushtar Branch of Azad University in Southwest Iran was criticized by students for killing a healthy dog for the purposes of a dissection lesson.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Rokna, the dog was still conscious after receiving several doses of anesthesia, and only finally died after the professor cut into its leg vein. Students who have criticized the killing and have posted images of the dissected animal online have been threatened by the school’s administration with expulsion.

Students at Azad University have also said that last year a donkey in the same class was killed in the same way. According to student posts online, the animal stumbled around the room for several hours after being beheaded before it died.

In 2019, all three Ministries of Science, Education, and Health issued directives restricting the use of live animals in laboratories and classrooms. The language of the Ministry of Education’s directive is significantly more decisive than its counterparts; it declares that the use of living beings for education is prohibited without exception. The circular of the Ministry of Health, however, despite emphasizing the importance of first seeking out alternative methods that do not harm the animals, states that it is ultimately up to the teachers to use their best judgement.

According to students in the class, the female dog did not have any specific diseases and the teacher had confirmed the dog’s health after the examination. The professor has as of yet not been reprimanded by the school.