INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
the country has increased by 104 percent over the past two years.On a daily basis, 47 new classrooms have been constructed all over the
country during the past two years, IRNA reported.More than 10,000 new classrooms are projected to be inaugurated by the end of the current
Iranian calendar month (September 22), the report added.On July 11, the 25th conference on honoring school-building benefactors was held at
the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults in Tehran.Addressing the conference, First Vice-President
Mohammad Mokhber said investing in education and manpower training is the root and basis of any country's development, and this starts
from schools, IRNA reported.Last year (March 2022-March 2023), benefactors donated more than 160 trillion rials (about $320 million) to
build and equip schools across the country, he added.Education Minister Reza-Morad Sahraei said for his part that by September 23 (the start
of the school year), some 2,000 educational projects will be implemented and more than 10,000 classrooms will be constructed, 46 percent of
which will be done in cooperation with benefactors.Half of the schools across Iran are built with the participation of benefactors, Mohammad
Reza Jafari, CEO of the School-Building Donors Association, has said.About 40,000 donors are active and involved in building schools across
the country, he stated, adding that over 49 percent of schools, amounting to 150,000 classrooms, in the country are built with the
participation of school-building benefactors.Construction of sports spaces, libraries, and developing smart schools are among the current
needs in school construction, he stressed.On January 10, the first national event of future schools was held with the aim of promoting the
use of knowledge-based technologies in schools.The Organization for Development, Renovation, and Equipment of Schools in cooperation with
sports spaces.The Majlis (Iranian Parliament) has approved a special budget to support building schools nationwide.Accordingly, the Ministry
of Education should spend one percent of the revenues of state-run companies and the net profits of banks and private institutions to build
schools in deprived areas in line with the goal of promoting educational justice.The "Brick-by-brick" national plan started in the year 1399
