Iran's Ministry of Education announced last week that in-person classes have been suspended at schools nationwide. Starting April 21, lessons will be conducted online via a dedicated platform and through the state-run television program "Iran TV School." This change affects all types of schools and grades in the country and will remain in effect until further notice.
The country is currently in limbo ahead of a possible resumption of airstrikes. After a fragile ceasefire halted six weeks of attacks, the situation remains tense. According to the head of the Organization for School Renovation, Development, and Equipment, more than 640 educational buildings in 17 provinces have been damaged during attacks by the US and Israel. About 250 of them are severely damaged and require complete renovation, while at least 15 schools are considered beyond repair and will have to be rebuilt.
NetBlocks, a global internet monitor based in London, reports that the longest nationwide internet outage on record was documented in the run-up to April 21. The country remains largely disconnected from the global internet. Much of internet traffic now runs through a national intranet, which is heavily restricted and only allows access to domestic websites. Even before the blackout, Iran's internet access was tightly censored, with many social media platforms blocked.
Cybersecurity expert Amir Rashidi states that "the internet blockade in Iran will most likely never be fully lifted." He adds that Iranian authorities have long been working on an intranet completely separate from the global internet, aimed at comprehensive state control in the digital space. This allows the government to prevent people from communicating, organizing protests, or sharing images of demonstrations.
Switching to virtual lessons via the intranet, however, poses a significant challenge, especially for schoolchildren from disadvantaged families and poorer regions of the country. Rashidi explains that during the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual teaching was partially implemented using apps and platforms operating over the national internet, but in some regions, such as Sistan and Baluchistan, there are hardly any internet connections due to a lack of necessary infrastructure. Most people in Iran access the internet via mobile phones, but these regions have fewer smartphones and laptops needed by students.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations inside Iran and abroad organized fundraising campaigns to collect money or provide second-hand devices to those in need, but rising unemployment, economic hardship, and inflation since the outbreak of the war have led to a significant decline in local support, according to activists. Due to the lack of internet access in parts of the country, some classes are being moved to the state-run television program "Iran TV School." For example, according to Iran's semiofficial Fars News Agency, mathematics lessons for seventh, eighth, and ninth graders will be broadcast on television at 2:00 p.m., followed by physics for twelfth graders at 6:00 p.m.
In parliament, discussions are underway on how to rapidly expand the national information network, increase bandwidth for educational institutions, and develop standardized learning content. Alireza Manadi Sefidan, chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Education and Research, has called for extra investments to improve conditions for nationwide distance learning in schools and universities.
Source: www.dw.com