Houthis Acknowledge Deterioration of Education Sector in Their Areas

The Houthi militia acknowledged the deterioration of the education sector in the areas under its control. The militia admitted that about 6.1 million male and female students in the areas they run suffer from the collapse of the educational system.

In a recent report, the group's "Entisaf" organization indicated that 2.4 million children out of the 10.6 million children of school age are out of school.

According to the Houthi report, 3,500 schools were destroyed or damaged, with about 27 percent closed in Yemen and 66 percent damaged due to the war.

The Houthi report ignored the group's deliberate looting of the salaries of more than 130,000 educators in their cities.

Houthi commander Sumaya al-Taifi was named head of the Entisaf group. She is also head of the Zainabiyyat Brigades, Houthi's armed women's wing, and was named the director of the Women and Children Department in the Houthi Ministry of Information.

Activists in Sanaa believe that despite the militias' comprehensive destruction of the Yemeni state and its systems and laws in various sectors, their crimes and violations against the educational process remain the most dangerous.

Recent international reports indicated that 80 percent of students in Yemen are in dire need of educational aid, revealing that more than 2.7 percent of students have dropped out of school.

Official government and international reports reported that about 4.5 million Yemeni children have dropped out and been deprived of education since the coup because of the group's destruction of schools and their conversion into military barracks.

They also accused the group of disrupting the educational process, recruiting children, and developing curricula that promoted sectarianism and hatred.

Save the Children Organization confirmed that 80 percent of students in Yemen need educational aid, revealing that more than 2.7 million Yemeni children have dropped out of education.

The organization tweeted on World Education Day on Jan. 24 that "currently, 8.6 million children (80 percent of all school-aged children) are in need of education assistance."

It indicated that over 2,783 schools were damaged or destroyed, "teachers being unpaid for nearly eight years now, and access to education is becoming increasingly difficult."

The organization described education as a "lifeline for children during emergencies. It provides stability, safety, and hope for a better future. In Yemen, however, students are dropping out of school at an alarming rate."

It warned that without education, these children are at risk of abuse and neglect, economic and sexual exploitation, recruitment, sexual and gender-based violence, trafficking, and child marriage.

The UN estimated that more than 2,900 schools had been destroyed, partially damaged, or used for non-educational purposes since the outbreak of the conflict in Yemen.

Meanwhile, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reported that a fifth of school-age children in the Middle East and North Africa region do not currently attend school.

The Monitor stated that 2022 statistics indicate that many children were deprived of their fundamental right to education.