There is no exact record of the population of deaf people in Iran. According to some statistics they constitute 0.5% of the population and according to another 1.5%. (Population of Iran is about 70 million.) There are 17026 Deaf students in Iran, 9202 of them are boys and 7824 are girls. Not all of these Deaf students attend Deaf schools. About 5000 participate in ordinary schools. Deaf students in Iran can choose whether they want to study at ordinary schools or Deaf schools. Of course there are experts that guide the families to choose the best one for their children. They test children's hearing ability and IQ and then make suggestions as to the school they should attend. Some other factors like economic problems and the distance between home and schools are considered as well.

Parents of Deaf children insist on enrolling their children in hearing schools. They try to make their children similar to hearing children with hearing aid and speech therapy. When they observe that their child can't make progress in her/his lessons, then they decide to send him/her to Deaf schools. Parents are afraid that their children might get secluded from the society if they go to Deaf schools.
There is a special program called the "mixed program" for Deaf students who are in hearing classes. The teacher has to spend more hours for the Deaf students and there is a specialist who comes to school some days every month who has to help the Deaf students to improve their lessons. The specialist often has a degree in special education.
Department of Special Education supports the "mixed program" and it is their aim to eliminate Deaf schools altogether in the future. They believe that the interaction between Deaf and hearing students will improve by this method. In this way it is hoped that the hearing community will become more acquainted with the Deaf community.
But of course there are some people who criticize this program. They believe that Deaf students are a minority and they have the right to have special schools for themselves. It is no use for the Deaf to study with hearing people. They need special education. But educational authorities maintain that in the future total educational system will have to undergo change towards a new method in which all special children including Deaf children will attend the same schools as the hearing and there is no need for special schools for the Deaf.
Welfare Organization and Department of special Education are two centers responsible for the problems of the Deaf. Welfare Organization supports deaf people socially and clinically. Deafness is considered a disability and Deaf people are divided to 3 groups of complete deaf, deaf and hard of hearing. Welfare Organization prepares hearing aids for the deaf and guides them to find jobs or financial resources.
Deaf education is directed by the Department of Special Education. There are 533 classes for girls, 643 classes for boys and 1141 mixed classes for the Deaf students in Iran. (Mixed classes are primary and pre-school classes)
Persian Sign Language is the language used by Deaf people in Iran. But it is not accepted as an independent language and most people don't make any difference between Persian Sign Language and signed Persian. They think that it is a variety of the Persian language. Even deaf people themselves think their language is defective because they don't follow Persian grammar. Persian Sign Language is not the language of teaching in the deaf schools.
There is a committee in the Welfare Organization called "sign language research and development committee" that has published 4 books titled Persian Sign Language, but they are actually signed Persian, because they are based on Persian grammar. This committee is composed of educated Deaf and hearing people. They believe that natural sign language used by the Deaf people isn't a correct language and they try to teach them the correct language that is signed Persian.
This committee is also the sponsor for the news program for the Deaf people which is broadcasted every Friday on Iranian TV. The news reader is Deaf and uses signed Persian. There is no non-manual signal in his sentences. He follows Persian word order and uses signs for Persian prepositions which are absent in natural sign language. Deaf people, specially the illiterate and uneducated ones, can't understand the news.
Some movies and TV shows are interpreted in sign language by an interpreter on the Iranian TV and they are more understandable for the Deaf, because the interpreter uses Persian Sign language.
There are some degree programs in the universities which are concerned with deaf problems. They are: speech therapy, audiometry, special education and psychology for special children. All who work in the Department of special Education have a degree in one of these programs. Knowing sign language is not a necessary qualification for their recruitment. Even teachers of Deaf schools don't need to know sign language, however they are recommended to use natural signs to improve learning but there is no emphasis on using this method.
Teachers are familiar with Total Communication and they claim their method of teaching is TC. But in fact they insist on the oral approach, because they believe it would improve students' Persian knowledge. All Deaf students in Iran try to be good at lip-reading.
There isn't any special book for teaching the deaf people and teachers use ordinary books written for hearing people. Deaf students have more problems in learning some subjects. For example almost all deaf students can't get good marks in Persian language, literature, Arabic, English and history. But they have better marks in math and arts. Teachers have many problems in communicating with their students. Some of them, due to a long term experience with Deaf students, learn Persian Sign language and have better relation with their pupils. But most teachers are sure that deaf students can't learn certain subjects or lessons at all. They try to omit difficult parts of the books and take easy exams. That's why Deaf general knowledge is low and they can't be compared to hearing students in this regard. This is on of the reasons for deaf failure in the entrance examination of universities.
The number of Deaf students decreases in upper levels of education both among boys and girls. The courses they can choose to study in universities are very limited. They rarely choose humanities or language programs. Deaf students either leave the school or they stop studying after high school. Even if they succeed in the entrance examination of universities, they choose arts or technical programs.
There is a very important and difficult examination to enter state universities. It is almost the most important examination in Iran. Studying at state universities is a wish for everyone. If someone can't pass this exam has to participate in another entrance examination which is held by azad (Open) University. Studying at Azad University costs a lot. However as the population of applicants has increased throughout years, it isn't possible for everyone to study at state universities, so there is another big competition for Azad University. High school graduates who can't be accepted at either university choose several small colleges and schools. But their degrees are not as valid as the two main universities and the validity of degrees are very important for finding a job. Studying at such schools is expensive as well.
Subjects that applicant have to pass for all entrance examinations include general subjects and specialized subjects. General subjects are Persian language, Persian literature, Arabic, English and theology. These subjects are the problematic ones for the Deaf applicants. This is one of several reasons for the Deaf failure in the entrance examinations. Besides, general reading ability of the Deaf applicants in Persian and English isn't at the same level of the hearing applicants. They spend more time to understand the questions. Time is a very important factor in such competitive examinations.
Iranian Deaf people rarely have university degrees and if they have a degree, it is mainly seen among those who have become deaf after childhood or who are hard of hearing. This means that just the Deaf people whose knowledge of Persian is comparable with the hearing people can enter universities and this is of course in some limited programs. You can't find a single Deaf person who is studying literature or language. These programs are not at the top of the list of the most favorite programs. It means that the hearing people can be accepted at these programs with moderate effort, but very talented and highly motivated Deaf applicants never can enter these programs.
The most fundamental problem in Deaf education is the lack of linguists and linguistic research in the organizations related to Deaf people. All experts as I mentioned before are professionals in audiometry, speech therapy and psychology. The prevailing approach to deafness is the clinical approach. Linguistics can help teachers to overcome their communicative problems with Deaf students. It also can lead them to a cultural approach that is as necessary as the clinical one.
Persian Sign Language has to be known as an independent and natural language of the Deaf communities. It means Persian is not a Deaf's first language. Teachers of Deaf students have to know sign language and use it for teaching. Then Persian can be taught as a second language using special methods for the Deaf. Lip-reading and speech reading are not enough for the Deaf to learn Persian well.
Testing is another problem. When we get that Persian is the second language of the Deaf people and that it is learned rather than acquired, then it is not fair to compare their Persian, English and Arabic competence with the hearing people who are native speakers of Persian. It means it is not a good testing in which Deaf people have to learn three languages and the others have to learn two languages. There are many talented Deaf people who are interested in continuing their education and are really motivated and hard working, but can't study at good universities just because of unfair ways of testing.
Finally more Deaf people must be hired to teach the Deaf students and to participate in the management of Deaf schools. It will help us to know and solve problems better.