Some 58,000 classrooms were built during 2001-2004, of which 19,000 were constructed with public donations.

Minister of Education Morteza Haji said 1.54 million students are currently studying in nonstandard schools which are on the verge of destruction, insisting that the ramshackle buildings need to be promptly repaired, IRNA reported.
Speaking at a ceremony in Bandar Abbas to celebrate the removal of Kapari (hovel) schools, Haji stated the ministry’s next move would be to buttress decrepit school buildings.
“A credit of 2,000 billion rials had been proposed for reinforcement of schools in the fourth plan which was not ratified,“ he noted.
Haji further stated that close to 47,000 hovel classrooms had so far been replaced, adding such classrooms had been totally removed from all provinces except Sistan-Baluchestan and Kerman.
The so-called Kapari schools are crude hovels built largely of straws and stalks.
Earlier, deputy minister of education, Seyyed Mohammad-Ali Afshani, for development affairs said, “Although 11,000 non-standard classrooms were replaced during the last two years, 72,000 ones are still in urgent need of repair and reinforcement,“ Fars news reported.
Afshani said ID documents had been issued for 84,000 domestic schools.
He added a total 586 billion rials in credit had been allocated to the State Organization of Schools Renovation, Development and Mobilization in the current year, registering a 50-percent growth over the previous year.
He predicted the national and provincial credits allotted to the Education Ministry in the current year (started March 21) would amount to 5,000 billion rials.
Afshani, who is also head of the organization, added the 7th Festival of School Construction Benefactors had been held this year on May 12-18 to honor charitable individuals, inform public of problems afflicting the Education Department, and promote public participation in constructing and equipping educational institutions.
“There are currently 11,000 school benefactors in the country. The figure shows a 50-percent growth compared to 2001,“ he added.
Afshani stated that 58,000 classrooms were built during 2001-2004, 19,000 of which were constructed by means of public donations, adding another 6,000 classes are presently under construction.
“The donations of benefactors have had a spectacular increase in recent years. They donated a total 360 billion rials in 2001 which increased to 1,760 billion rials in 2004,“ he added.

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) program officer in Iran, Jan-Pieter Kleijburg, said child rights was in a better status in Iran compared to other countries, ISNA reported.
In an interview with ISNA, he mentioned access to education and the health/ medical system as the main reasons for his remark.
He added, however, that some children were deprived of such services because they lived in border regions, adding efforts should be directed at identifying these children so that programs could be implemented in those regions as well.
He reiterated that Iran is a signatory to the Convention of the Rights of the Child which obligates states to prepare the grounds for implementation of child rights programs.
Jan-Pieter then referred to the judiciary’s plans to provide juvenile delinquents with corrective training.
Children under 18 are in fact victims of other conditions, he stated, praising the progress made in this regard in Iran including the establishment of Juvenile Court.
Referring to child labor, the UNICEF officer said it was one of the most complicated problems worldwide, stressing education provides an appropriate solution to the dilemma.
Child labor is illegal, he said, adding proper schooling along with temporary jobs is a mechanism which can help these children attend school.
Factors leading to school dropouts need to be recognized. Children dropping out of school must be provided with an opportunity to return to school and this is the responsibility of parents, neighbors and any other person involved in this, he commented.

Only about 8 percent of the total seven million under-six population enroll in kindergarten.

Only about 8 percent of the total seven million under-six population enroll in kindergarten, a figure which is expected to rise to 20 percent by the end of the fourth development plan (2005-2010), director general of the Office for Children and Young Adults of the State Welfare Organization said.
Talking to ISNA, Esmailian said close to 10,000 private, state-run and self-sponsored kindergartens in different rural and urban areas draw a minor segment of the target group, whereas the corresponding figure is as high as 75 percent in developed countries.
He named preschool as one of the “most fundamental pillars“ of a proper education, emphasizing the role of kindergartens in the formation of the children’s personality in the early period of life.
Reiterating the necessity of establishing kindergartens in deprived urban and rural areas, Esmailian said, “Unfortunately in underprivileged districts, especially shanty towns in the urban periphery of cities, private kindergartens are not received warmly due to low income levels as well as cultural unawareness.“
In line with polices to downsize the government, almost all kindergartens through the country have either been ceded to private sector or become self-funded.
The official added, “In a bid to promote establishment of kindergartens in informal settlements around metropolises which are more deprived than rural areas, 50 kindergartens in such districts will be paid 200,000 rials in subsidies per child.“
According to Esmailian, the initiative would help provide children in these regions with proper education, medical and health services, and keep them away from social harms.
He regretted that the government had allocated no budget to the office in the current year, saying, “Following negotiations with SWO chief, some 5,000 million rials in credits was allocated to the office for reducing moral and behavioral disorders in the vicinity of cities by establishing kindergartens.
Esmailian stated that the office cooperated with the Health Ministry to place a ban on providing junk food in kindergartens, and replacing it with healthy nutritional food items. “Thanks to coordination with Agricultural Ministry and Pegah Milk Company, all kindergartens across the country shall be provided with free milk every second day,“ he mentioned.

Pupils Organization has several extracurricular projects on its agenda to improve quality of education for schoolchildren, head of the organization said.
Speaking at a news conference in Tehran, Mohammad Shah-Hosseini said as per the fourth five-year development plan (2005-2010), a science museum will be established in the Education Ministry, the Persian daily Iran reported.
Construction of the museum, which is located in the west of Tehran, has already begun with a fund of 60 billion rials, he added.
The organization also plans to build similar museums in other cities, Shah-Hosseini stated.
Referring to the endorsement of the Pupils Rights Chart by the Pupils Parliament, the official noted, the charter gave the go-ahead for setting up a humanitarian rights club.
The club has been launched with the cooperation of United Nations Educational, Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Training one million high school students on humanitarian law is the core objective of the club, he mentioned.
“Also a Health Club has been founded within the organization to prevent high-risk behaviors among pupils. Some five billion rials in credit has been assigned by President Khatami to this goal,“ he added.
The organization’s chief stated that the international conference on Child Victims of Terror, slated for July, is another initiative of the club to educate and update citizens on international topics.
Pointing to the organizaiton’s 11-billion-rial budget, he criticized the Seventh Majlis for cutting the organization’s budget and went on, “Facing a budget deficit, the organization has only 3,000 rials per student for extracurricular programs. It is also unable to take in new members and should solely work on promoting quality.“
The Pupils Organization, which has some 3.5 million members, is the only institution in charge of extra-school activities, Shah-Hosseini revealed.
“The organization is unable to plan for the country’s 16 million pupils,“ he said, adding, “Other state bodies such as the National Youth organization and the ministry should devise programs for the whole pupil population.“

A schoolboy looks down from atop a pedestrian overpass in Tehran. (Photo by Nasser Azimi)

The “Dong Dong News Agency“ at www.ddce.org, is a news website created by kids and for kids, chinanews.cn reported.
The theme of the website, which started operating on April 18, is “Let the World Hear the Kids“.
The administrators, editors and reporters for the website are all students from primary schools or high schools.
This website is meant to provide an outlet for the opinions of children and anyone aged between eight and 18 is eligible to apply for the position of editor or reporter in this website.
The website also organizes weekly training programs on news reporting and editing in schools, which are attracting many children.
The website has been warmly welcomed by students, who are taking the opportunity to voice their opinions.
Some parents have also shown their support for the website, as long as it doesn’t affect the children’s studies. Parents say the website helps them understand their kids better.

Children are more likely than adults to remain awake during surgery despite being anesthetized, according to Australian researchers.
In a two-year study, more than 850 children were questioned after being anesthetized and 28 cases of suspected awareness were uncovered.
Four independent adjudicators agreed that of these, seven children--or almost 1 percent--had been awake during their surgery.
Research team leader Andrew Davidson, from the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, said the incidence of adult awareness under anesthetics was between 0.1 and 0.2 percent.
He told the Australian Associated Press (AAP) that the children, selected at random, remembered things such as the noise of an orthopedic saw.
“One having an ear tube insertion remembered the doctor making a hole in the eardrum and then sucking out the fluid inside the ear,“ Davidson said.
“Another child having a needle popped in their hip remembered the feeling of the needle being poked around.“
Davidson, who reported the findings to a weekend meeting in Auckland of Australian and New Zealand anesthetists, said it was one of the first major studies into children’s awareness.
He said he was “very, very surprised“ by the number who were awake.
“We’ve always assumed it doesn’t happen in children,“ Davidson told AAP.
“It may be children just don’t tell anyone. They may be afraid to tell. I had one child who was aware who told her mother and her mother told her, ’Don’t be stupid, that doesn’t happen’.“
Davidson said a couple of the children remembered being in pain during their surgery, but this was not severe.
“It didn’t seem to make the children nearly as anxious as I expected it would,“ he said. “We followed the children up for a month. It didn’t seem to have an effect on their behavior.“
Davidson said the study suggests anesthetists may need to consider giving children more anesthetic, although more studies are underway.

The Netherlands announced plans to limit immigration of young people from the Dutch Antilles unless they are working or studying to limit what it sees as an influx of criminals from the Caribbean islands.
The Dutch cabinet agreed on measures aimed at clamping down on 18 to 24-year-olds from the poverty-stricken Antilles, which together with Aruba and the mainland Netherlands makes up the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the ANP news agency reported.
Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk, who has driven the clampdown, said many young Antilleans thought that the Netherlands was “the land of milk and honey“.
“People who don’t stand a chance in the Antilles, also won’t stand a chance in the Netherlands,“ ANP quoted her as saying, adding she was convinced the plans were not in conflict with the Dutch Constitution or European laws.
The plans include sending Antilleans found guilty of crime in the Netherlands back to the islands.
About 130,000 people from the Dutch Antilles and Aruba live in the Netherlands. The total population of the chain of islands that makes up the Dutch Antilles is about 200,000.

Nonstandard seats have increased the prevalence of vertebral column disorders among children.

Desks and seats used in schools do not meet standards, causing spinal cord disorders among a large number of students, an expert with Tehran Education Department in charge of health and nutrition in schools said.
Soheila Tabrizi added school desks and seats should be designed keeping in mind the age of students.
“Unfortunately, identical benches are being used for elementary and high school students,“ she noted.
“Heavy haversacks and nonstandard seats have increased the prevalence of vertebral column disorders among children.“
Tabrizi warned that carrying over-stuffed backpacks can lead to both back and shoulder pain and poor posture in children, especially girls.
Referring to the high costs of treating spinal disorders, the expert said, “We try to prevent the emergence of such disorders through training and direct the affected students to medical centers. Unfortunately, children suffering from such problems cannot be treated free of charge and the costs are overburdening parents.“