Ilna News: The general manager of the international scientific cooperation office of the Ministry of Education declared: self-governing schools generally operate in secret. Therefore we do not have the possibility of identifying them completely. Gholamreza Karimi, The general manager of the international scientific cooperation office of the Ministry of Education suggested: the operation of these schools is illegal, as it is not clear which country’s curricula they follow. He added: if there are self-governing schools in this country, they should be closed, and a significant number of these schools are already closed. While emphasising on the fact that there are any self-governing schools in the country, they are operating in secret,  he pointed out: we do not have the possibility to search the private premises to identify these school, but if the existence of these schools is reported, the Law Enforcement forces will attempt to close them. According to him, some Afghan citizens, who are well educated set out to start the self-governing schools to create a source of income for themselves. He suggested: at this point, it is possible for Afghans to study in Iran and they can enroll in our normal schools. Karimi added: Some Afghans, out of ignorance, enroll their children in the self-governing schools, while their curricula is not validated by us. He declared: with the cooperation of the police forces, the Ministry of Interior will attempt to close the self-governing schools. The people of Iran can report the operation of these schools to the administration office of the citizens of the Ministry of Interior or to the office of international scientific cooperation of the Ministry of Education.

Etemad Melli Newspaper, issue 267, date: January 1st, 2007