In 2011, Iran adopted the "Fundamental Development Document for Education", a national
strategic document setting a number of goals for the government, including "the comprehensive
expansion and provision of educational justice."7 Based on this strategic document, in 2013, Iran
developed the "Executive Procedure for Integrated and Inclusive Education Regulations" and
conducted a trial project in 7 provinces of Iran for 3 years to assess the concrete efficiency of
such regulations.8 Reportedly, at the end of the trial project, 71.3% of the 7 provinces
successfully held classes following the "development of integrated and inclusive education".
About 86% of specialized teachers had relevant study degrees, and 90.6% of teachers followed
during the project had relevant practical experience.9 The regulations became binding for all
provinces in Iran at the end of the trial project.
Despite these legal guarantees and efforts, access to inclusive education is reportedly limited for
children with disabilities. All Iranian children aged 6 years old must undergo a national medical
assessment which determines whether a child can be educated, and if so whether he/she may
attend mainstream education or be sent to a special needs school.10 The Ministry of Education’s
Special Education Organization is in charge of the education of children with disabilities who
have been deemed as able to access education (whether mainstream or specialized), while the
State Welfare Organization is responsible for children considered “ineducable”.11 Such an
assessment has been criticized as maintaining segregation of children with disabilities and
contributing to discriminations against them.12
In 2017, the Centre for Human Rights in Iran reported 5% of children with disabilities attending
special needs schools.13 During the 2018-2019 school year, Human Rights Watch reported
150,000 children with disabilities who were enrolled in school out of an estimated 1.5 million,
43% of whom in mainstream education while the rest were admitted in special schools.14
Reasons explaining such a low enrollment include the national medical assessment, physical
inaccessibility to educational infrastructures and lack of reasonable accommodations, lack of
training for teachers and education officials in inclusive education methods, lack of information
7
https://sccr.ir/Files/6609.pdf
https://www.solh.ir/regulation/7/6948
9
See more: http://exceptionaleducation.ir/files/site1/user_files_237322/imanimehr-A-10-38-37-a6f7ccc.pdf
10
Center for Human Rights in Iran, https://iranhumanrights.org/wp-content/uploads/Iran-Disability-Education-Children.pdf and,
Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/10/02/just-other-kids/lack-access-inclusive-quality-education-childrendisabilities#_ftn97
11
Center for Human Rights in Iran https://iranhumanrights.org/wp-content/uploads/Iran-Disability-Education-Children.pdf, and,
Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/10/02/just-other-kids/lack-access-inclusive-quality-education-childrendisabilities#_ftn10
12
Human Rights Watch, https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/10/02/just-other-kids/lack-access-inclusive-quality-educationchildren-disabilities#_ftn10
13
Information from the Centre for Human Rights in Iran. “Some 137,000 students study at special schools in Iran”, Tehran
Times, 2 December 2017.
14
Center for Human Rights in Iran, https://iranhumanrights.org/wp-content/uploads/Iran-Disability-Education-Children.pdf and,
Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/10/02/just-other-kids/lack-access-inclusive-quality-education-childrendisabilities#_ftn97
8
2