Diagnosis of Mining Engineering Education in Iran

Iran has experienced centralized higher education system for the past two decades. Present study employs statistics and information of mining engineering education to demonstrate some of the major obstacles against the engineering education in Iran. During the past 60 years, about 5000 students have been graduated from mining engineering departments of Iran, of which more than 90% fall in the last 20 years. In recent years, about 700 students graduate from 23 mining engineering departments of Iran, annually. About 100 faculty members, which less than 50% of them have a doctorate degree, are teaching mining engineering in 13 institutions of public sector. The present study shows that the number of active mining engineering departments of Iran is more than the sum of similar institutes in USA, Canada and UK. It also shows that the number of mining engineering graduates of Iran are more than the sum of graduates of USA, Canada, UK and Australia. Based on the global experiences and domestic needs, the present article suggests some remedial measures to relieve the current pitfalls.