Male-order education: Iran bars women from 77 university courses

Published time: August 21, 2012 12:43
Edited time: August 21, 2012 16:43
Iran women.(AFP Photo / Atta Kenare)

Thirty-six universities in Iran have announced that 77 courses in their curriculum will be “single-sex,” prompting an outcry at home and worldwide over women’s rights in the Islamic state.

­The subjects now only available for men include accounting, engineering, pure chemistry, English literature and translation, hotel management, and many others, Iranian news website Rooz Online reports. For instance, the University of Tehran will now open exclusively to men the courses related to mathematics, natural resources, and forestry.

The announcement comes a fortnight after the move was reported by the semi-official Mehr News Agency, but back then the decision has not been officially confirmed by educational institutions.

The limitations have been listed in the universities’ leaflets. The changes are to be implemented in the coming year, the Telegraph reports.

Exiled Iranian Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi has urged the UN to immediately investigate the matter, calling the move an attempt to derail Iranian women’s fight for their rights.

"[It] is part of the recent policy of the Islamic Republic, which tries to return women to the private domain inside the home as it cannot tolerate their passionate presence in the public arena," Ebadi wrote in her letter to Ahmad Shaheed, the UN's special rapporteur for human rights in Iran.

The controversial move has also led to Iranian parliamentarians calling the Science and Higher Education Minister Kamran Daneshjoo to explain the decision.

The top education official brushed aside the criticism, saying that 90 per cent of degrees remain open to both sexes, and that single-sex courses were needed to create "balance".

“Some fields are not very suitable for women’s nature,” another senior education official, Abolfazl Hasani, said.

The move comes amid reports that the country’s women have excelled over men greatly in recent years, causing senior Iranian clergy members to express their concern about the increasing academic success among women in the Islamic State.

According to UNESCO, Iran has highest ratio of female to male students in the world, with the country’s women outnumbering men three to two and making up about 60 per cent of all undergraduates.

Comments (54)

Thunder Rain (unregistered) 26.08.2012 10:42

Waaaaww, What a swam of Ninjas?
America's got Drones and Iranians' got Ninjas... Pishaha... wuchuuuu... and at a click of button, booomm the drone from white house..
On a serious note, I love humanity (real one not the demon in human skins) Irans also, that's why I need to be honest with them.. Please, renounce the bondage and yoke of Islam... It is contrary to what you are being deceived with, not a 'way of life', rather it is a way of DEATH, and death like 'idiot' I must say. Just think of it, some wake up (After being brainwashed), put on a A-belt (Like you have A-bomb), go in the midst of innocent people (Praying or ) and blow him/herself up with promise of getting ehhmm, 72virgins, I wonder what the ladies that blew themselves up get… 72men? That must a task to get 72 men lined up to bang you every minute there is a head rising for ‘call to duty’.
Please, my fellow ‘Moslems’, let us open our eyes, a  man that gave us Islam was everything that we despise today, and a classic example of a hardcore mindless criminal, from fraud, to raping even 6year old, to countless genocides, to extortion, corruption, abuse of any kind you can think of, all out of hallucination that ‘god’ told him to do so!
Compare Mohammed's life with that of Jesus, and see which one makes sense (Ofcourse Moslems are not allowed to see or touch the Bible, to keep them from such truth) . And when you hear Moslems say, Peace be upon him, which peace are they talking about? Did he leave the world in peace? He was trying to play Jesus, because he said I live you with Peace my peace I give you.. Did Mohammed leave the world with his peace or genocide?
How many are in jail today for doing what the voice (Hallucination) they heard told them to do?

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Mad Angel on FB (unregistered) 22.08.2012 17:11

TO Norway quote I CAN SEE WHY YOU GOT -4

"Iran is an Islamic state on level with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia where the rules of the state also are the rules of Islam (Sharia laws). They are equally radical and fascist, difference is that Iran is closer to Russia and China whilst Saudi Arabia is aligned with the US."

How WRONG you are..... there are different sects of Islam....Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are  Sunni and Wahhabi.....Iran and Syria are Shia and Alwites....they clash....the only reason Saudi Arabia is 'aligned' with the US is OIL.... and Israel is using that to undermine Syria....once Syria is conquered, the gates are open to attack Iran...

James Overton SAID and I concur...

Ira n has highest ratio of female to male undergraduates in the world, according to UNESCO. Russia Today, recycles a New World Order press release uncritically and runs a transparent smear piece against Iran. Absolutely pathetic.
There is no named author on this piece; a cowardly act from a news organization clearly struggling with its mission and ethics. The bottom line is this; is RT going to go for truth, or is it going to bow to the news cycle and print and disseminate lies written by other people? This is the question.
Unless the person who posted this and wrote it is named, unless there is some accountability, there is no credibility. Stop posting stories without a named contactable author. Stop recycling news from the New World Order; every time you do this you cheapen Russia Today's image and tarnish its reputation. It becomes hard to believe anything you say if you spread propaganda like this.


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Hans Aplast (unregistered) 22.08.2012 08:45

The women rights are problematic in many islamic countries. Iran was known to be more liberal and now they going the same wrong path.
Saudi-Arabi a is the worst of all. Women there are not even allowed to drive a car. The Saudi's now plan to create women only town to make it possible for women to work at all. 
One thing is sure - bombs will not help these women. 

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