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Afghan emigrants and educational discrimination

Maryam Amiri, Tehran Community Manager

Tehran, 25 August 2015

Education plays an essential role in addressing the "poverty cycle" and in preventing the next generation from falling into the poverty trap.In Iran, there are more than two million Afghan emigrants, usually are among the poorest and with the lowest-income occupations. Considering that a big proportion of this population does not own residency permits, they face several kinds of formal and informal discriminations. For instance, most Iranian schools refuse to register Afghan children, especially if they do not own residency permits. Thus, the Afghan children are sent to work for low pay instead of to school. And thus, the cycle of poverty continues.

The Society for the Defense of Street and Working Children was formed in 2003 to abolish all kinds of child labor in Tehran. Education is one of their most important activities, and one of their priorities is working with children from poor Afghan families. The society holds classes in their office, located in a poor neighborhood in south of Tehran. The society is distinguished from other charity organizations both by their focus on enabling children and due to the unique methods and goals of their educational program.

One of the organization's objectives is denouncing the formal education structure, which they believe encourages child labor. This system in Iran is based on gradual but important privatization, an approach that makes the cost of education unbearable for poor households. The Society therefore also tries to increase the knowledge of the poor families about their children's education, and teaches them ways to improve their condition. Their methods also include teaching social skills to the children. Overall, the organization is run in a participatory way, which contrasts greatly to the formal education system in Iran.

The Society uses volunteer teachers, and provide free services and facilities for children, including transportation, books, supplies, and food. The education committee of the Society has provided classes for 160 children aged seven to 18.

For more than a decade, the Society for the Defense of Street and Working Children has been leading an important group of volunteer forces working to reduce social discrimination against poor emigrants. In part due to these efforts, the supreme leader of Iran recently issued an order by which all emigrants, even those without a residency permit, can register their children in Iranian schools free of charge. The results of this decision are not clear yet. It clearly removes one of the many discriminations facing immigrant children in Iran, but until intense poverty is eradicated, many families will still force their children to work instead of going to school.

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