Iran’s Minister of Labour and Social Welfare has announced that in coordination with the Ministry of the Interior, they are planning to stop panhandling on city streets.
The Mehr News Agency reported on Friday October 10 that Labour Minister Ali Rabii announced that the two ministries will have the responsibility to clear away panhandlers, noting that many of the panhandlers are street kids with no opportunity to attend school.
He said: “Plans have been adopted to address the issue of the estimated 7,000 children on the streets and, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, to make sure none of these children will go without schooling.”
Ali Rabii added that in some provinces, authorities have managed to enroll one hundred percent of these children in schools.
Recent estimates indicate that 31 percent of street children are between the ages of six and 11 while nine percent are under six.
