is estimated to be up to 5 million,33 predominantly located in the province of Khuzestan, also one of the poorest provinces in the country.34 Although the Government has engaged in a number of initiatives to reduce the rate of school drop-out in the Islamic Republic of Iran, notably through education plans35 and the work of its National Body for the Convention of the Rights of the Child, 36 there is no readily available information that might indicate the existence of governmental measures addressing specifically the issue of dropouts among Ahwazi Arab children or initiatives aiming at raising awareness among the community. On the contrary, the apparent reluctance of the Islamic Republic of Iran to enable children of ethnic communities, including Arabs, to learn in their mother tongue could well dissuade them from enrolling in school. The Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran raised concerns about reports of Kurdish, Ahwazi Arab and Azerbaijani-Turk (or Azeri-Turk) lacking access to education in their mother tongues. 37 38 These concerns were echoed by the U.N Secretary General, 39 40 41 noting reports indicating that members of ethnolinguistic minorities, including the Arab community, were being denied the opportunity to teach their language in schools. 42 In 2016, reportedly up to 40,000 Ahwazi Arab children were denied access to education for failing the Farsi language proficiency test, although Farsi being their second language.43 A lack of teaching in a children’s mother tongue has reportedly been causing high school dropout and illiteracy rates, notably among Ahwazi Arab children.44 Although the Government has engaged in initiatives to address the right to education of girls and raise awareness on the importance of education among children, in practice, girls, especially married girls, still face significant barriers to access primary and secondary school and complete their education. Additionally, there is no readily available information that might indicate that 33 Human Rights Watch, https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/04/29/iran-sweeping-arrests-ahwazi-arabactivists#:~:text=(New%20York)%20%E2%80%93%20Iran',Human%20Rights%20Watch%20said%20today. 34 Iran Focus, https://www.iranfocus.com/en/life-in-iran/34478-iranian-cities-are-not-only-below-poverty-line-they-are-belowmisery-line 35 Tehran Times, https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/450506/Plan-for-returning-drop-outs-to-school-started 36 The Supplementary Response of the (NBCRC) regarding the Concluding Observation on the Combined third and fourth periodic reports of the Committee on the Rights of the Child for the Islamic Republic of Iran, 2016, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=INT%2fCRC%2fCOB%2fIRN%2f23480 &Lang=en 37 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, January 2020, https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/IR/Report_of_the_Special_Rapporteur_on_the_situation_of_human_rights_in_the_ Islamic_Republic_of_IranA4361.pdf 38 See more : Association for the human rights of the Azerbaijani people in Iran, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CRC_NGO_IRN_19735_E.pdf 39 IRNA, www.irna.ir/news/83404283/ (in Farsi). 40 Report of the U.N. Secretary General, January 2020, https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/IR/Report_of_the_SecretaryGeneral_on_the_situation_of_human_rights_in_the_Islamic_Republic_of_IranA4320.pdf 41 Ibid. 42 Report of the U.N. Secretary General, August 2019, https://undocs.org/en/A/74/273 43 UNPO, https://unpo.org/article/19590 44 Center for Human Rights in Iran, https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2013/10/khuzestan-teachers/ 4