Education in Iran is highly centralized and is divided to K-12 education and higher education. K-12 education is supervised by the Ministry of Education and higher education is under supervision of Ministry of Science and Technology. 82% of the Iranian adult population is now literate, well ahead of the regional average of 62%. This rate increases to 97% among young adults (aged between 15 and 24) without any gender discrepancy. By 2007, Iran had a student to workforce population ratio of 10.2%, standing among the countries with highest ratio in the world.
Primary school (Dabestân) starts at the age of 6 for a duration of 5 years. Middle school, also known as orientation cycle (Râhnamâyi), goes from the sixth to the eighth grade. High school (Dabirestân), for which the last three years is not mandatory, is divided between theoretical, vocational/technical and manual, each program with its own specialties. The requirement to enter into higher education is to have a High school diploma, and finally pass the national university entrance examination, Iranian University Entrance Exam (Konkur), which is the equivalent of the US SAT exams. Many students do a one (or two-year) pre-university course known as Peeshdaneshgahe, which is the equivalent of GCE A-levels and International Baccalaureate. The completion of the pre-university course earns students the Pre-University Certificate.
Universities, institutes of technology, medical schools and community colleges, provide the higher education. Higher education is sanctioned by different levels of diplomas: Fogh-e-Diplom or Kārdāni after 2 years of higher education, Kārshenāsi (also known under the name “licence”) is delivered after 4 years of higher education (Bachelor's degree). Kārshenāsi-ye Arshad is delivered after 2 more years of study (Master's degree). After which, another exam allows the candidate to pursue a doctoral program (PhD).
Read more about Education In Iran: Curriculum, Budget, Education Reform, Teacher Education, Foreign Languages, Internet and Distance Education, Higher Education, Women in Education, Schools For Gifted Children, Organization For Educational Research and Planning (OERP), Prominent High Schools in Iran: Historical and Current, Statistics
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