Blocking Women from Iranian Universities an Unwise move

Recently legislation has been introduced into the Iranian parliament in regards to introducing limitations to the acceptance of Iranian females into Universities. Their justification is that increased education of Iranian women has caused "an increase in the marriage age of women ", "an increase in the number of divorces" and " a decrease in the morality of families".

The author of this legislation seems to have a denial of the reality of today's times. The economies of modern countries cannot afford to have half of its population to become idle and not participate in its productivity. Why South Africa's apartheid collapsed was due to this very reason. They could not have the entire country support all of the people, while half were barred from working and participating in contributions to society.

While the author may argue that women cannot offer any contributions, that statement is simply not true. There are many women legislators, doctors, teachers, office workers and lawyers that are effectively contributing to society. What needs to happen is that the above problems need to be analyzed and searched to find the sources as to why they are occuring.
It is very likely that the reason why the marriage age is on the rise, is because of the poor economy in Iran and couples not capable of scraping enough money to have a stable life. In that case, inflicting another blow to the economy will only cause a higher rise in the marriage age. The increase in divorces and "disintigration" of the family may very well be due to the need of cultural reform in Iranian society. When husbands feel that they own their wives and that she needs permission from him to work, travel or do anything, tensions occur. Whether the Islamic Republic likes it or not, they can't stop the flow of information in this day and age. We live in a time where the internet, satellite dishes as well as travelling in and out of Iran is opening people's eyes to the rest of the world. Iranian women will become aware of their rights one way or the other.

Additionally, obtaining an education has been a strong tradition in Iran. Even religious families want their daughters to have an education. Passing this discriminatory legislation may reduce the base support among the hardliners too.

Limiting women from Universities will only serve to catalyze the discontent of Iranians of the current state in Iran.