Tehran Gets 57 New Schools, Many More Needed

The Organization for Development, Renovation, and Equipping Schools has completed the construction of 50 new schools in Tehran and another seven will be ready before the summer is out, head of the organization, Dariush Varnaseri told ISNA.

The schools will add 550 classrooms in the coming academic year (starting September 23).

However, the official says more schools, either state-run or private, are needed to meet the rising demand in the over-populated capital that is home to 12 million people.

“The Mehr Housing project increased demand for schooling. As many as 350 schools need to be constructed near the low-cost housing complexes. One third of this number is ready and the remaining is under construction. We are planning to complete the rest before the residential units are handed over to their residents,” the senior official said.

Mehr project is a large-scale construction program initiated in 2007 by the previous government to provide two million low-income people with housing  through free land and cheap credit.

 The multi-billion-dollar project has been criticized for, among others, not taking into consideration the additional burden of developing the necessary infrastructure for the residents of these houses, many of which are built in the outskirts of large cities.

Insufficient education space in District 22 is western Tehran is another issue the official took stock of. “Mass constructions carried out in this area in recent years have attracted residents in unusually big numbers. This year, five new schools will admit students in the southern District 12. But this may not suffice.”