Student unions object to proposal to segregate genders

In the midst of an ongoing debate over the expulsion of university professors, student unions across Iran have voiced their protest against gender segregation in classrooms, reports Iran International.

Iran’s Student Union Council issued a statement on Monday 28 August, in response to a letter signed by Abolfazl Ghafari, the deputy for cultural, social and student affairs at Ferdowsi University in Mashhad, advocating for the introduction of gender segregation. The memo has also been shared with the heads of other faculties within the institution, signalling a broader institutional shift towards segregation. The students’ statement underscored the divisive nature of gender separation and rallied against it.

The discourse on gender segregation in Iranian universities is not new, having spanned several decades and permeated various aspects of campus life, including dormitories, library halls and sports facilities. Furthermore, many single-gender universities have been established in recent years. While Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei expressed opposition to physically partitioning classrooms in the late 1990s, he has more recently advocated for the Islamisation of universities and the avoidance of mixed-gender interactions.
Full report on the Iran International site