90,000 students forced to quit studies in northern Iran

Iran Focus:

Tehran, Iran, Oct. 25 – Some 90,000 students have been forced to leave their studies for a variety of reasons, including poverty and child labour, in the northern coastal province of Mazandaran, the state-run daily Khorrasan reported on Monday.

“The number of individuals who have quit their studies is considerable. This is very obvious in Mazandaran province since presently 90,000 students have abandoned their studies”, the daily wrote.

It quoted a researcher as saying that “cultural poverty, high costs of education, use of teenagers and children as part of the work force, various financial difficulties, and lack of financial capability, resources for continued education, and incentives for studying, as well as the existence of illiteracy in society” were to blame.

The daily said that the students that had been forced to abandon their education were between the ages of 11 and 17.