Houthis Destroy Education in Yemen

Earlier this year, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) had warned that the educational system in Yemen was on the verge of collapse, saying nearly 3,000 schools have been destroyed or damaged while 2.7 million children have dropped out because of the ongoing conflict.

Yemeni Deputy Minister of Education Ali al-Abbab accused the Houthi movement of seeking to destroy the educational system in his country, where the UN says the ongoing fighting that has lasted for eight years has prevented more than eight million children from accessing education.

Abbab accused the Houthis of “using many schools as military barracks and destroyed many Yemeni universities, both physically and morally, by appointing unqualified people to these universities.”

The war caused thousands of teachers to abandon their profession because they had not received their salaries. Abbab pointed out that there was a comprehensive strike by the teachers in the areas under Houthi control due to non-payment of their salaries for eight years.

Abbab said that Cairo had hosted a meeting with the local education group earlier this year with the participation of the World Bank, UNICEF and UNESCO.