Yemen faces a growing education crisis, with 4.5 million children currently out of school, according to Peter Hawkins, the UNICEF representative in Yemen.
Hawkins described the situation as a “ticking time bomb” that could lead to a generation of uneducated youth lacking essential life skills.
He warned that within 5 to 10 years, Yemen may have a significant illiteracy problem, which will pose a serious challenge for the country’s future development.
In response to this crisis, UNICEF is working to rehabilitate schools damaged by the ongoing conflict, ensure that teachers can attend classes, and encourage children, particularly girls, to return to school after the summer break.
UNICEF has already rehabilitated 1,116 schools and motivated 38,000 teachers to return to work. Despite these efforts, the scale of the crisis remains daunting.
The start of the 2024 school year has been particularly challenging due to the systematic destruction of educational institutions by the Houthi movement.
According to Fahmi Al-Zubairi, Director of the Human Rights Office in Sana’a, the Houthis have further darkened the prospects for education in areas under their control. Schools have been repurposed as platforms for recruitment, indoctrination, and military mobilization, severely undermining the educational environment.
Al-Zubairi emphasized the widespread use of children in the Houthis’ recruitment efforts, with more than 65% of their fighters being underage.
Schools and summer camps have been exploited as recruitment grounds, with children either forcibly conscripted or traded for food provided by humanitarian organizations. Families struggling with poverty are often coerced into sending their children to fight in exchange for basic aid.
Teachers in Houthi-controlled areas have faced numerous challenges as well, including salary cuts and curriculum changes designed to facilitate child recruitment and spread ignorance.
This deliberate manipulation of the education system by the Houthis has compounded Yemen’s educational and social crises, violating international conventions and local laws.
Deputy Minister of Legal Affairs and Human Rights, Nabil Abdulhafiz, attributed the mass dropout of millions of Yemeni children to the military operations, shelling, and displacement caused by the Houthis.
Additionally, the country’s dire financial situation and widespread poverty have made it difficult for families, particularly in rural areas, to send their children, especially girls, to school.
The Yemeni government is working with international partners, including UNICEF and the UN Development Programme, to address the problem by rehabilitating damaged schools and building new ones. However, the sheer scale of the crisis continues to challenge both local and international efforts.
