April 03, 2018
The number of students applying for university entrance exams has dropped from 1.7 million to 800,000 in recent years, according to Ali Zarafshan, Deputy Education Minister in charge of the high school curriculum.
“Young boys realize that higher education doesn’t necessarily lead to gainful employment. According to a recent report by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, 67 percent of those who have jobs hold only high school diplomas or associate degrees,” Zarafshan said.
“More than 60 percent of university graduates work in jobs that are completely unrelated to their degrees,” Zarafshan added. “The labor market doesn’t offer that many opportunities to university graduates. That is the reason for the drop in the number of young people seeking a university education.”
Zarafshan pointed out that the number of students in upper secondary school (15-18 years old) who enrolled in associate degree programs had dropped from 550,000 to 440,000. “Many of these high school graduates prefer to find a job rather than enrolling in colleges and universities,” he said.
Zarafshan, however, believes that the trend will not continue. “The number of university applicants will increase to 17 million in the next ten years. Our main challenge is to match jobs with university degrees and qualifications,” he noted.
