Education policy in Iran

The focus of this chapter is developments in Iran’s public education sector over the past four decades. Following a brief discussion of the origins of Iran’s modern education, the chapter describes the evolution of education policy in the post-revolutionary period. It then investigates the trends in government expenditure on education as well as education outcomes in terms of literacy, enrolment, and quality. The chapter further highlights the impacts of ideology and conflicts of interest, disparities among schools, and increasing privatization and commercialization trends and policies. Notwithstanding its achievements over the years, the education system is found to face a number of challenges in ensuring equal access to quality education.