Baha’i university applicants suffer ongoing deprivation

Baha’is who have taken the nationwide entrance examination in Iran say that their names have been deleted from the list of accepted students, writes Maryam Ghadirzadeh in this Iran Press Watch translation of a BBC-Farsi Service article.

Shadan Shirazi, Rouhieh Safaju, and Tara Houshmand are among the applicants who say that although they gained high marks in this year’s nationwide entrance examination, they were not accepted in any of their designated fields. Besides being women, the three applicants share another trait – they are all followers of the Baha’i Faith.

Depriving Shadan Shirazi of higher education was the top story in the news nearly a month ago. She gained a ranking of 113 in the nationwide entrance examination score. When the results were announced, she checked the Iran Examination Institution website, but was asked to go to the physical location of the institution in Tehran. A number of other Baha’i participants in the examination have received similar messages on checking the status of their acceptance, but in most cases travelling to the Karim Khan Zand building has been fruitless.
Full report on the Iran Press Watch site