Recently admitted students of Islamic Azad University in the fields of medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy held protests against the threefold increase in tuition fees for these programs. According to the newspaper Ham Mihan, the protests began on October 14 in front of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Parliament), extended to the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, moved to the Presidential Office, and continued at the Ministries of Science and Health. They have written letters and appealed to their city representatives, but no one has responded so far. Some of these students’ families have joined them in the protests.
The newspaper Ham Mihan published a detailed report titled “Becoming a Doctor at the Cost of 3 Billion Tomans,” outlining the reasons for the protests from new students and their families.
The protesters are admitted students in medical fields at Islamic Azad University who have been left uncertain since October 12 when the results of their field selection were announced. Tuition fees, previously 32 million tomans, have risen to 90 million and, in some cases, even 112 to 135 million tomans—a 200% increase. Accepted students are in shock, and their families are at a loss. Some families do not own a home or land and are renters.
Those who do own homes or land say they will have to sell them for their children to study medicine. Many protesters are from distant cities such as Shiraz, Sanandaj, Shahrekord, Ardabil, Qom, Mashhad, Isfahan, and others.
The newly admitted students object to the fact that this increase was not communicated to them beforehand and did not match their expectations. Many admitted students cannot afford these tuition fees. They cannot change their field of study or university, and, according to the regulations of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, they would be banned from taking the national entrance exam (Konkur) again next year if they withdraw.
The only solution offered by officials is for students to take out loans. However, neither these students nor their parents can afford to repay the loans and high-interest rates. Some protesters note that their family breadwinners will soon retire and thus will not qualify for loans. Protesters say that when they discuss this issue with officials, they are sometimes met with insults and threats. They believe this situation amounts to fraud, but the problem is much deeper than just fraud.
Since the presidency of Rafsanjani, the education system in the Islamic Republic of Iran began the process of commodification. This trend has especially affected children of unemployed and low-income workers, including Afghan immigrants, particularly among girls, who have faced increasing educational exclusion since then.
According to an expert, since that time, with the commodification of education, children, youth, and education seekers are treated as customers. The tripling of tuition fees at Islamic Azad University, which has also gradually been implemented in other universities, represents a continuation of the policy of commodifying education on a larger scale. This means that, in profitable fields like medicine, only the children of the bourgeoisie, those with connections, embezzlers, and traffickers supported by the ruling authorities, have the opportunity to obtain degrees. In regime universities, aside from personal recommendations, significant quotas in some fields, especially in medicine, are allocated to families of those killed in the Iran-Iraq war. This acceptance system, along with the commodification of education in medical fields, is one reason some doctors prioritize income over patient health and engage in unethical practices such as under-the-table payments.
The issues surrounding medical education and healthcare extend beyond high tuition fees and the class-based nature of education in Iranian universities. Superstitions have also entered this field, along with the views of figures like Mesbah Yazdi and Mirbagheri. Their ideas, put into practice in the Islamic Republic, promote “Islamic medicine” as opposed to modern medicine, claiming that Western medicine is harmful and brings many troubles. They also argue that women patients should not consult male doctors if female doctors are available, and even in cases without female doctors, a male doctor should treat the patient using a mirror or monitor without direct eye contact.
The crisis deepened when powerful clerics like Khamenei and his allies interfered in specific medical matters. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Khamenei declared the virus an American creation and banned the import of vaccines made in the United States. Following Khamenei’s decree, authorities prohibited volunteer doctors from assisting COVID patients and expelled Doctors Without Borders. How many Iranian citizens lost their lives due to this historical crime? The extent of this crime, like countless others, will only become known after a revolutionary uprising of the people. In those circumstances, the possibility of free education for all citizens at every level will become a reality.
