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چکیده
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The importance of an effective reform in the Iranian educational system in general and secondary education in particular is better understood if we pay attention to two challenging matters in the country. On the one hand, the country’s population is one of the youngest populations in the world among which over 50% of the population are under 24 years old. It was resulting from the post Islamic Revolution population policy which led to a high growth rate during 1980s and 1990s. On the other hand, as a result of social and cultural awareness, increasing demands for benefiting education as a right has resulted to rapid growth in students population which it reached to nearly 20 millions in the late 1990s (MOE, 2003). Although in the light of new adopted population policy, the country is experiencing the lower birth rate and consequently the number of students has reduced, but it is still a challenging dilemma for the country’ instable and ill oil-based economy. Therefore like many other developing countries, students in Iran are leaving secondary school while what they have learnt is different from what the world of work and the labour market requires. This is because the Iranian schooling system is not paying attention properly to what young people, as the future employees, need and how the system can increase their career abilities to participate in the world of work. Problematic circumstances of the young people from the employment point of view have led policy makers and educators in many societies to reform educational systems toward making education more relevant to the needs of the economy. However, no systematic research has been carried out in Iran to investigate such problems which hinder secondary education from achieving its objectives. This research was an attempt to provide a foundation for addressing these problems, from which policy indicators or further studies might be considered.
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