istophe Boulierac, UNICEF spokesperson in Geneva did the following reviews about education in Yemen:
“After more than three years of fighting, the situation of children in Yemen is getting worse, not better. Yemen has the largest number of children in need of humanitarian aid globally. Over 11 million children - 80% of the country’s children – desperately need humanitarian assistance. They face the daily threat of food shortages, diseases, displacement and acute lack of access to basic social services. When services fail, children are the first to suffer.
As with other sectors, the education sector in Yemen is on the brink of collapse because of the ongoing conflict, political divisions among parties to the conflict, and onic underdevelopment. For this school year, we estimate that 2 million children are out of school, compared to 1.6 million before the conflict, according to data from the Ministry of Education.
We also estimate that another 4 other million primary school students are at risk of losing access to education - mainly in the northern provinces of Yemen - because about 67% of public school teachers – and this is across the country – have not been paid for nearly two years. Many have had to look for other work to survive or are only teaching a few subjects.
The quality of education is at stake. Children are not getting their full lessons due to the absence of their teachers. Even when schools are functioning, the schools days, terms and years are shortened.
More than 2,500 schools are out of use; 66 per cent of them damaged by airstrikes and ground fighting, 27 per cent closed and 7 per cent used by armed groups or as shelters by displaced populations.
Children who are not able to go to school in a country like Yemen face a number of risks. Boys are early targets for military recruiters. There are over 2,635 children (all boys) who have been recruited and used by armed forces and armed groups. Girls are at greater risk of marriage. A 2016 survey in six governorates revealed that close to three-quarters of women had been married before the age of 18 and 44.5 per cent under the age of 15.
Out-of-school children become illiterate and unskilled parents, transmitting poverty to the next generation. Peace and recovery are an absolute must if children in Yemen are to resume their schooling and get the quality education they urgently need and are entitled to.”