International and UN organizations have declared the continuation of the education crisis in Yemen, stating that over 4.5 million children in Yemen are out of school. The Houthi group has escalated its coercive efforts to compel parents to enroll their children in summer camps, even resorting to detaining minors who refuse to continue in these camps.
Local Yemeni sources in Dhamar province, located 100 kilometers south of Sanaa, reported that senior leaders in the Houthi group have intensified their field visits to monitor the progress of summer sessions in camps, along with visits to examination centers for the basic certificate, urging students to join summer camps after completing their exams and making promises of assistance for those who attend these camps to succeed.
The Atma district in western Dhamar witnesses intensified efforts in mobilization tasks led by security leaders, holding continuous field meetings with dignitaries and residents of the district, and delivering speeches urging them to enroll children in summer camps.
Houthi leader Ahmed al-Jarmouzi, known as “Abu Yahya,” appointed by the group as deputy director of security in the Atma district, abducted six children aged between 12 and 15 from their homes in the Makhlaif Bani Bahr area. They were then detained in the district security prison controlled by the Houthis because they escaped from the summer camps they were forcibly enrolled in.
Residents of the district complain that their children have been instructed to act against their parents and to prioritize obedience to the Houthi leader over their parents’ authority.
The Houthis’ interest in recruiting children from the Atma district is attributed to the residents’ opposition to the group and their refusal to cooperate or respond to its calls. The district has witnessed armed resistance for the past eight years.
Lost Education Opportunities:
With UNICEF recently announcing that over 4.5 million children in Yemen are out of school due to the consequences of years of armed conflict, the organization for Modern Diplomacy affirmed that the education crisis in Yemen persists despite the ongoing ceasefire for the past two years. Millions of children remain out of school in Yemen.
Modern Diplomacy cited Save the Children organization’s failure to protect the fundamental right of children to safe, quality, and inclusive education. After ten years of conflict, the impact on children’s learning and well-being has been severe. More than 4.5 million children in Yemen are out of school, representing 39% of the school-age population.
Researcher Dag Inge Ulstein, who prepared the report for the organization, emphasized, “We must not forget the immense suffering and lost learning opportunities experienced by children in many other crises that do not receive the same global attention, including places like Mali, Sudan, and Yemen.”
Ulstein expressed serious concerns not only about the well-being of Yemeni children but also about the possibility of the country’s economic recovery, which significantly affects the education crisis. It reduces opportunities to provide protection for children, increases their likelihood of child labor, and early marriage.
According to the report, one-third of the families surveyed had at least one child forced to leave school in the past two years. Moreover, over 58% of parents reported no improvement in their children’s education, even after the ceasefire.
The government’s inability to support education is attributed to the ongoing dynamics of conflict, making it challenging to improve the economic situation. The government struggles to provide adequate salaries for teachers, educational resources, and rehabilitate damaged schools, while 1.3 million displaced children in the country are twice as likely to drop out of school compared to their peers.
The organization expressed concerns that with immediate solutions available to address the displacement crisis, displaced children face increasing risks of educational disruption, jeopardizing their future, perpetuating poverty, and instability.
The organization identified poverty as a key factor in school dropout rates, as food insecurity has forced the largest number of children to leave school in the past two years. More than 44% of caregivers surveyed stated that the need for income-generating support for their families was the primary reason for school dropout.
Schools Out of Operation:
The organization for Modern Diplomacy expressed concern about the continued child labor in Yemen and the significant risks it poses to children’s well-being and growth, calling on the Yemeni government, donor countries, and active humanitarian agencies to urgently commit to a renewed peace process, ensure school protection, and significantly increase support for Yemen’s education system.
UNICEF reiterated last week about the impacts on children, schools, teachers, educational infrastructure, and the education system since the Houthi group’s control over large parts of the country in 2015, reducing the opportunities for millions of children to access education.
UNICEF explained that the conflict and the ongoing disruption of the educational process throughout the country and the near-collapse of the fragmented education system have had a significant impact on children’s learning, cognitive and emotional development, and mental health overall, with a total of 10.6 million students in Yemen.
Statistics revealed damage to 2,916 schools (at least one out of every four schools) or their use for non-educational purposes. The increasing obstacles faced by the education system include more than two-thirds of teachers not receiving regular salaries since 2016 or ceasing to teach.
Schools closed their doors to students due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, disrupting the educational process for nearly 5.8 million students during the academic years between 2019 and 2021, including 2.5 million girls.