Literacy rate in Iran has increased by 2.85 percent between 2011 and 2016, director of the Literacy Movement Organization said.

“Some 5.8 million people are purely illiterate and 11 million are functionally illiterate,” Ali Baqerzadeh said, without mentioning any figures on the literacy rate.

Official figures released by the Statistical Center of Iran, published in March 2017, indicate that some 87.6 percent of the Iranian population aging over 6 are literate. The number reflects a 2.8-rise compared to the 2011 census results.

While Iranian students shine at international Olympiads and Iran has advanced notably in terms of scientific publications and research output worldwide, many choose to drop out of schools, he regretted.

Despite the fact that students are provided with free of charge schooling on average many are likely to drop out of school after 8 years of attending school, he stated.

There are 781 million adults over the age of 15 estimated to be illiterate, of which 496 million were women, the World’s Women 2015 report found. Women made up more than half the illiterate population in all regions of the world. Moreover, as per another report by UNESCO, 250 million children are failing to acquire basic literacy skills. This results in an exclusion of low-literate and low-skilled youth and adults from full participation in their communities and societies.

According to the Literacy Foundation illiteracy in individuals stems from different, generally inter-related causes which, together, create a series of often insurmountable barriers for those concerned.

Parents with little schooling, lack of books at home and lack of stimulation as to the importance of reading, doing badly at or dropping out of school, difficult living conditions, including poverty, learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, dysorthographia, etc. are the most frequent causes of illiteracy in adults.

Literacy is a driver for sustainable development in that it enables greater participation in the labor market; improved child and family health and nutrition; reduces poverty and expands life opportunities,

Beyond its conventional concept as a set of reading, writing and counting skills, literacy is now understood as a means of identification, understanding, interpretation, creation, and communication in an increasingly digital, text-mediated, information-rich and fast-changing world. / Tehran times/

‘Light Sight’, an animated short film by Moslem Tabatabei won 5 international awards.

The 7 minute animated short film Light Sight directed by Moslem Tabatabaei vied at 28 international film festivals during the past month, and won 5 different awards.

The awards won by Light Sight are as follows:

Best animation award at 2017 Ratma Film Festival, England.

Award of excellence at 2017 Say It in Eight Student Film Festival, the United States.

Best animated short film award at 2017 London Eye International Film Festival, England.

Best animated short film at the 3rd Greenwich Village Film Festival, the United States.

Best animation award at Cardiff International Film Festival, England.

Light Sight is about a characted called M.E. who is born in a room lit with a light hanging above it. Attracted to the light, he is distracted by glowing balls covering the walls around. He starts playing with the balls that obey the movements of his hands, and tries to summon the hanging light similarly. In trying to reach the light, however, h is buried under the balls and is only rescued by the light.

Attracted to the light even more, he tries again to catch the light with the balls preventing him from doing so. / Mehr news /

M ore than 28,000 foreign tourists spent at least a night in Iranian free trade zones in the first seven months of the Iranian year (ended Oct. 22), marking a 34% growth compared with the same period of last year.

The government had set a goal of attracting 23,000 foreign tourists in the seven-month period, according to a report released by the High Council of Free Trade Zones and Special Economic Zones.

Iranian FTZs hosted 39,000 foreign travelers in the previous fiscal year (ended March 2017), whereas the number is expected to reach 43,000 by March 2018, Dolat.ir reported.

Iran has seven FTZs, Kish Island and Qeshm Island in Southern Province of Hormozgan, Chabahar Port in Sistan-Baluchestan, Arvand in Khuzestan, Anzali Port in the northern province of Gilan, Maku in West Azarbaijan and Aras in East Azarbaijan.

The released data do not specify the share of each zone from the total number of foreign visitors, though Kish and Qeshm have always outperformed other areas, thanks to their rich infrastructural developments.

Figures released by local officials also show that in the six months ending Sept. 22, the number of foreign travelers to Chabahar and Anzali increased by 23% and 11% respectively. / Financial Tribune /

Sharif University is going to hold a commemoration ceremony to play homage to late Iranian math genius Maryam Mirzakhani on November 21.

The commemoration ceremony of Maryam Mirzakhani, the late Iranian mathematician, will be attended by relatives, friends, officials, university professors and students.

The Iranian winner of Fields Medal, also known as the Nobel Prize of mathematics, and Stanford University professor, Mirzakhani, passed away at 40 in a hospital in the US on July 15.

In 1994, Mirzakhani won a gold medal in the Hong Kong International Mathematical Olympiad, to be the first female Iranian student to have received a gold medal. In the 1995 Toronto International Mathematical Olympiad, she became the first Iranian student to receive a perfect score and to win two gold medals.

She obtained her BSc in mathematics in 1999 from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran. She went to the US and got a PhD from Harvard University in 2004.

Mirzakhani, who was born on May 3, 1977, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013, a year before she set the record of the first ever woman to win the prestigious Fields Medal in mathematics. / Mehr news /

Olympic gold medal winner in Rio 2016 Kianoush Rostami is going to auction his medal to give the money to the people who were affected by the earthquake.

A 7.3 magnitude earthquake that struck Iran’s western provinces has killed at least 450 people and injured more than 7,000 others.

The earthquake also caused major damage to buildings and infrastructure in the cities.

“My gold medal belongs to my people and I just hand it back to them. I didn’t sleep in the previous nights due to a sorrowful event,” Rostami said.

Rostami set a new world record of 396 kilograms in his 85kg weight class, winning his first Olympic gold medal.

A number of top athletes and sports celebrities are set to meet at Tehran’s Shiroudi stadium on Wednesday to raise money for earthquake victims. / Tehran times /

Iranian artists have announced that they would organize various programs to help the victims of the devastating earthquake that hit the western Iranian region of Kermanshah on Sunday.

The powerful earthquake killed at least 450 people and injured thousands. The Kurdish band Tarang plans to perform a benefit concert in Tehran to aid the victims of the deadly earthquake.

The concert will be held at Tehran’s Andishe Hall on November 24, bandleader Borzu Amiri said in a press release on Tuesday.

“This is not the first time that the Kurdish people feel grief… However, I hope it will be the last time they feel sad,” he stated.

Tehran’s Kurosh Cineplex also plans to help with relief efforts following the natural disaster. The cineplex will allocate half of its box office revenue on Wednesday to the victims.

Tehran’s Mojdeh Gallery also will organize a three-day exhibition to aid the quake-stricken people. The gallery is scheduled to put part of its treasure trove on sale during the exhibition to raise funds for the victims of the earthquake.

Gallery manager Mojdeh Tabatabai has also asked Iranian artists to join the charity by donating their artworks to the exhibition, which will open on November 24.

Legendary Iranian Kurdish vocalist Shahram Nazeri also expressed his sympathy for the victims of the quake during the unveiling of his new album “Who Is a Lover?” in Tehran on Monday.

The organizers observed a minute of silence before the unveiling ceremony in remembrance of those who perished in the earthquake.

The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has also stopped all art and cultural programs for three days to sympathize with those who have lost loved ones in the accident.

In addition, the National Orchestra also canceled its Tuesday night concert to remember the victims of the earthquake as many celebrities sent messages of sympathy to the victims on social networks.

/ Tehran times /

Rastak, one of Iran’s leading contemporary folk music ensembles, will perform on the final day of the Dhaka International Folk Festival 2017 that will present the diverse richness of Persian culture to the stage on November 11.

The ambassadors of Persian Music, rendering the soothing sounds of Tar, Setar, Daf, Santur, Tanbur or Tonbak will make the listeners wonder and lose their soul to the rich sounds of their musical heritage. Their music and performances combine language, culture and history while merging traditional instruments with contemporary rhythms.

The sounds of Iran including the Kurdish, Balushi, Shirazi and Arabic traditions will come alive in Dhaka.

Rastak began as an experimental music group in 1997 with a group of Iranian students who shared a passion for sharing traditional Persian folk music with an international audience.

Rastak will introduce a number of Persian folk instruments to the audience, including the tar, which is a long-necked string instrument, the balaban, which is a type of flute, the tonbak, which is a drum, and the gheychak, a stringed instrument played with a bow, just to name a few.

Their programme will include a number of songs that reflect the different regions and cultural influences in Persian culture such as Kurdish, Balushi, Shirazi and Arabic to Bangladeshis. / unb /