Iran tallies $119m in school damage in recent aggression, vows swift rebuild
Iran’s Education Minister Alireza Kazemi said on Saturday that damage to schools and education offices during the recent war reached 220,000 billion rials, roughly $119 million at current rates, as authorities press ahead with reconstruction and pursue an international case over a deadly school attack.
Speaking on the sidelines of a Teachers’ Day ceremony marking educators’ renewed pledge of allegiance, Kazemi said 1,200 schools sustained “serious” damage nationwide, many requiring full demolition and rebuilding, IRNA reported.
“Through round-the-clock efforts,” he added, most sites have already been readied and students relocated, underscoring the system’s rapid response.
Only 20 campuses remain due to the scale of destruction, he said, noting they will be redesigned as “symbolic” and modern facilities and delivered by the start of the academic year in September 2027. The ministry is coordinating with planning and administrative bodies to upgrade standards while expanding equitable access and quality, he said.
Kazemi framed teachers as a national backbone whose influence extends beyond classrooms. Their visible presence in public life, he said, helped galvanize families and students during the conflict, while the country’s professionals, from pilots to physicians, are “all shaped” by the teacher’s craft.
He also thanked President Masoud Pezeshkian, First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, and budget and civil service authorities for sustained support to education despite constraints, citing stepped-up measures on welfare and system quality.
On the attack on the Shajareh Tayebeh school in Minab, where students and teachers were killed on February 28, Kazemi said a legal dossier has been opened at the international level. He described the site as a future “museum” of the enemy’s crimes and a major cultural and educational hub, drawing visitors in organized caravans to bear witness to what he called Iran’s “Karbala.”
Iran observes Teachers’ Day annually on May 2, with ceremonies that reaffirm the role of educators in national development and cultural life.