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Addressing the educational challenges in a troubled country like Yemen necessitates an exploration of the political transformations that have significantly impacted its landscape. With every political turn, the pre-existing structures are dismantled, eroding the accumulative effect, and sometimes, reconstruction and repair fail to materialize. The educational field remains a persistent battleground, even during periods of peace, as it is directly influenced by the numerous political shifts of the country.
During the era of Ottoman occupation in Yemen, which ended in 1918, there was a girls' college in the heart of Sanaa - a pioneering advancement within the regional context at the time. However, under the rule of the Imams from 1918 to 1962, education suffered a setback. With few exceptions, education was then confined to the “Me’lama” schools, which are structures often situated within mosques, where clerics provided instruction in reading and studying the Quran. Courses were given in exchange for fees to be paid by the students' families on a weekly basis- a process that continued without an official curriculum or government oversight.
When attempting to formulate a modern curriculum that integrated religious studies, Ahmed Abdel-Wahhab Al-Warith, a proponent of enlightenment in Yemen, faced staunch opposition. His proposal, which included select chapters from the Quran, was prematurely dismissed. Only a handful of schools emerged in Taiz, Al-Hudaydah, and Sanaa, while in the south, educational opportunities were limited to Aden and Hadramaut. During the British era, residents outside these regions were deprived of schools, prompting residents of northern Aden to establish the Bilqis private school, to provide their children with an education.
In the early 1960s, following the September 26, 1962 revolution, Yemen witnessed the advent of modern education through direct Egyptian intervention, spanning from infrastructure to curriculum and teaching staff. The foundation of modern education, however, faced a setback with Egypt's withdrawal in 1967, prompting direct intervention by Saudi Arabia in the education sector. The formal education system was subsequently divided into general education and scientific institutes established in 1974 during the tenure of President Ibrahim al-Hamdi, with support from Saudi Arabia and direct oversight from the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen.
The unification of North and South Yemen in May 1990 escalated tensions over the education system, becoming a focal point of disagreement between the two ruling parties—the General People’s Congress and the Yemeni Socialist Party. This discord culminated in the issuance of an education law in 2001, abolishing the system of scientific institutes implemented by Saleh, for political reasons pertinent to differences with the Islah Party, which seemed to be the most prominent beneficiary of this educational institution.
In the Yemen of the Republic and Independence, Kuwait played a significant role in numerous Yemeni schools and greatly influenced the sole government university in Sanaa (established in 1970). Kuwait funded the importation of Arab teachers into Yemen, in light of a severe shortage of local educators. 1990 marked a pivotal year in Yemen's educational landscape, as the unification of the two parts of the country revealed stark disparities in their educational systems.
The South was distinguished for its success in universalizing education, with UNESCO considering it as a pioneering experiment in eradicating illiteracy. The north, on the other hand, heavily relied on Arab teachers, often funded by Kuwait. However, this privilege was forfeited due to Sanaa's stance on Saddam Hussein's intervention in Kuwait. Consequently, the north resorted to fabricating local teachers lacking adequate qualifications to compensate for the shortfall. This triggered a decline in confidence in public education, due to the diminishing quality of educational curricula.
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Until 2001, scientific institutes provided educational services in parallel to the public education system, serving as a red line for staunch advocates of religious education who viewed the latter as a divine source of knowledge. Religious schools did not perform the traditional morning flag salute; instead, their allegiance salute said, "God is our goal, and the Messenger is our role model... and death in the name of God is our highest aspiration." This dichotomy between the school and the institute gave rise to a generation torn between the two, with the belief that any leftist or nationalist Yemeni was deemed an opponent of the unity of the Islamic nation, an implicit principle underlying the education imparted by the institutes that gave intensive religious teachings.
Numerical indicators
The Yemeni Republic boasts an approximate total of 16 thousand schools at present, yet the majority of these educational institutions face significant deficiencies in essential resources and equipment. Classrooms are often equipped with antiquated wooden or cement blackboards, and many lack infrastructure as basic as doors and windows. Libraries, laboratories, and other necessary facilities are also lacking. In secondary classes, the number of students sometimes exceeds 80, making the learning process extremely challenging and academically frustrating.
In the same context, the number of government universities in Yemen has surpassed 18. Some universities, established during times of conflict in remote and distant areas, lack essential equipment. The establishment of these universities seems to be driven more by political motives than actual educational needs. Additionally, there are 44 private universities in the country, but their specializations and degree programs are limited and often fall short of meeting required standards, whereby not a single Yemeni university is currently included in international educational classifications.
Dwindling enrollment levels, impacted by changes in the academic landscape, have led to the closure of some departments at the universities of Sanaa and Dhamar. This decline, coupled with constraints on the authority of teaching staff and university professors, has resulted in unprecedented challenges for the academic sector. The war years witnessed a notable brain drain, as some of the most distinguished minds sought refuge abroad, aggravated by the dangers of war and the irregular disbursement of salaries since late 2016.
In the Yemen of the Republic and Independence, Kuwait played a significant role in numerous Yemeni schools and greatly influenced the sole government university in Sanaa (established in 1970). Kuwait funded the importation of Arab teachers into Yemen, in light of a severe shortage of local educators. 1990 marked a pivotal year in Yemen's educational landscape, as the unification revealed stark disparities in their educational systems of the South and North.
The South was successful in universalizing education, with UNESCO considering it a pioneer in eradicating illiteracy. The north, on the other hand, heavily relied on Arab teachers, often funded by Kuwait. This privilege was forfeited due to Sanaa's stance on Saddam Hussein's intervention in Kuwait. Consequently, the north resorted to local teachers lacking adequate qualifications to compensate for the shortfall, triggering a decline in confidence in public education.
Before the unification of Yemen in 1990, education in the country experienced significant cumulative qualitative development. However, post-unification, there was a tangible renaissance in quantitative terms, juxtaposed with a stark deterioration in quality. The enrollment rate in pre-primary education remained remarkably low, not surpassing 2%[1] for children in a country where 40% of the population is under the age of 14[2]. Only 13% of Yemeni adults had some kind of education, studying in schools where 53% lacked sanitary facilities or water. The gender parity ratio stood at 69 girls for every 100 boys, and the government expenditure on a high school student amounted to a mere $471 annually.[3]
Yemen has one of the world's highest rates of classroom overcrowding due to the high student-to-teacher ratio. In 2012, the ratio exceeded 30 students per teacher[4]. By 2021, over 8 million Yemeni children were in urgent need of emergency educational support, 85% of whom belong to poor families[5]. The ongoing war and the redirection of international aid, crucial for the education sector, towards relief efforts led to a sharp decline in education's share of aid. Aid plummeted from $794 million in 2018 to $115 million in 2019[6]. During the same year, the number of schools with accessible health facilities in Yemen dropped to one in ten[7], a five-fold decline from the pre-war estimates. As a result of this deterioration in the educational body of Yemen, reading and writing proficiency for students in the first three primary grades deteriorated to a mere 8%, a stark contrast to their counterparts in Lebanon, where the rate stands at 88%[8].
As a direct consequence of the war, nearly 4.5 million students had their educatio disrupted, as their teachers’ salaries have been halted since 2016. Notably, teachers in regions controlled by Ansar Allah (Houthis) constitute around 70% of the total teaching force in Yemen. A significant number of these educators abandoned their roles in pursuit of alternative means of livelihood[9].
However, these statistics and metrics warrant closer examination. According to the Arab Multidimensional Poverty Report[10], 47% of Yemen's population is under the age of 18. Applying this percentage to today's estimated population of 30 million people, the number of individuals under 18 surpasses 14 million children. After subtracting approximately 12% of this demographic who are under 5, the school-age population stands at 12 million and 320 thousand. Although the UNICEF reported that two million children in Yemen were not enrolled in schools, the real number alarmingly stands at a much higher 3 million and 720 thousand of total school-age children. This crisis represents Yemen’s unseen “black hole”.
Education as a field of constant conflict
Since the beginning of the millennium, former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has relied on the so-called “Contagion of Strategies” phase, seeking to leave his mark in the country’s modernization. On the educational front, he initiated five strategies, none of which have achieved their goals: the strategies for basic education, secondary education, higher education, technical education, and literacy. In practice, these strategies have become merely rhetorical legacies as the country's constitution and laws were indefinitely suspended, rendering these educational initiatives ineffective in achieving their practical goals.
Yemen has an approximate total of 16 thousand schools at present. Most of them lack essential resources and equipment. Classrooms are often equipped with antiquated wooden or cement blackboards, and many lack infrastructure as basic as doors and windows. Libraries, laboratories, and other necessary facilities are also lacking. In secondary classes, the number of students sometimes exceeds 80, making the learning process extremely challenging and academically frustrating.
The number of government universities in Yemen exceeds 18. Some universities, established during times of conflict in remote and distant areas, lack essential equipment. Their establishment seems to be driven more by political motives than actual educational needs. Additionally, there are 44 private universities in the country with limited degree programs.
Since the founding of the Republic in Yemen six decades ago, the educational policy in the country had been shaped by social demand for certain specializations rather than by labor market requirements. This approach placed immense pressures on educational institutions to accommodate the growing number of students, beyond their capacities - particularly in higher education, where individuals saw degrees as a way to climb up the social ladder. This phenomenon became a focal point in the leftist narrative, encapsulated by the concept of “cross-class social status”. For this reason, coupled with the political desire to instill ideological formation in the youth, various movements, be they Islamic, leftist, or nationalist, engaged in fierce competition for influence in education.
Following Egypt's withdrawal from Yemen in 1967, which marked the introduction of modern education through Egyptian teachers and curricula, the influence of the Baath and Muslim Brotherhood parties in the educational sector increased north of the country, while the National Front, a derivative of the Arab Nationalists Movement, assumed control in the south.
Deadly identities
The identity conflict within the educational domain played a paramount role in shaping it, serving as an extension of the broader political power struggle. Even at the level of public education unions, competition was absent, replaced instead by the disintegration of the union into three distinct ones aligned with the three major parties in Yemen—the Congress Party, the Reform Party, and the Socialist Party. Ultimately, the unions practically vanished, leaving the fate of education in the hands of those in control, wielding authority holding responsibility. Unionizing became practically prohibited, although this was not officially declared.
By 2021, over 8 million Yemeni children were in urgent need of emergency educational support, 85% of whom belong to poor families. The ongoing war and the redirection of international aid towards relief efforts led to a sharp decline in education's share of aid. Aid plummeted from $794 million in 2018 to $115 million in 2019
In 2023, though under the banner of the Yemeni Republic, the national anthem remains absent from the school morning lineup routine in Hadramaut, southern Yemen. Instead, the routine comprises a broadcast featuring short Quran recitals, Hadith recital, and some words of wisdom from Arab heritage. In sharp contrast, schools in Lahj and Aden, geographically closer to the areas influenced by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, raise a Southern national salute that was specifically designed to instill regionalism among students, fostering sentiments against the unified Republic of Yemen. This phenomenon was described by a Hadrami academic as “creating a generation without identity” in Hadramaut, against a generation with a counter identity in Aden and Lahj.
Meanwhile, in the schools under the control of Ansar Allah group (Houthis) in Sanaa, the morning salute, commonly known as the “slogan”, eclipses the national anthem during the morning assemblies. A recent official circular, issued in the aftermath of Israel's recent aggression on Gaza, mandates the circulation of this slogan during school assemblies, capitalizing on popular sentiments toward Palestine, promoting national disintegration under the guise of national/Islamic unification.
In 2011, when Yemeni youth protested against the Saleh regime, their main slogan was “No studying and no teaching until the president is overthrown”. Their cry resounded through the main sit-in square at Sanaa University, considered the beacon of education and enlightenment in Yemen. This institution, established five decades ago, is dealing with a different kind of discourse today, whereby discussions revolve around teachers’ salaries and gender segregation. In 2023, it was decided to segregate male and female students in university halls. Simultaneously, the global university ranking report that year placed Yemen completely outside the global classification. Despite the establishment of the Girls' Education Sector in 2006, Yemen still grapples with a persistent gender gap, with approximately 7 girls for every 10 boys in secondary education.
During the war, education in Yemen deteriorated, triggering an old controversy, not just over the curriculum and the qualifications of teachers or university professors, but also over the fundamental aspects of the educational system. This debate extended to the very nature of the subjects taught at school and universities, to the point that entire study departments at the universities of Sanaa and Dhamar were shut down during this year, 2023, due to a significant drop in demand in these departments.
The identity conflict within the educational domain played a paramount role in shaping it, serving as an extension of the broader political power struggle. Even at the level of public education unions, competition was absent, replaced instead by the disintegration of the union into three distinct ones aligned with the three major parties in Yemen—the Congress Party, the Reform Party, and the Socialist Party.
In 2023, the national anthem remains absent from the school morning line routine in Hadramaut, southern Yemen, with Quran recitals played instead. Meanwhile, schools in Lahj and Aden, geographically closer to the areas influenced by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, raise a Southern national salute that was designed to instill regionalism among students, against the unified Republic of Yemen.
The Yemeni education system suffers from general fundamental problems, exacerbated by the various aforementioned challenges. One of the main issues are the low level of educational achievement, overcrowded schools, a lack of health facilities in schools, and a poor academic curriculum. Additionally, there is the annual crisis of textbook availability and parents having to resort to the black market to buy their kids’ books. The dropout rate has surged due to the impact of the ongoing war. Teachers are generally underqualified, and they are paid meager salaries. In Houthi-controlled areas, many educators receive only two months' salary per year over four installments. Schools suffer from a lack of modern equipment and laboratories, while pre-school education is virtually nonexistent in public schools and is confined to private education. This leads to a low rate of reading and writing proficiency and exacerbates the education gap between the impoverished and the affluent classes.
The fragile infrastructure, both physical and academic, of public and university education, along with the diminishing emphasis on technical and vocational education (constituting a mere 3% of post-secondary education), has contributed to the graduation of a generation that is semi-illiterate, semi-educated, and ill-equipped to meet the demands of the local and regional labor market.
In consequence, numerous adolescents and children found themselves compelled to join the ongoing conflict, driven either by ideological indoctrination or financial needs. The educational transformations currently taking place in Yemen predominantly center on instilling religious and national beliefs in the youth, to the point that one could argue that the present function of the educational system in Yemen is to produce a generation of future fighters, fueled by the gunpowder of ignorance, regionalism, or sectarianism.
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Translated from Arabic by Sabah Jalloul
Published in Assafir Al-Arabi on 09/12/2023
1-Global education monitoring report. Non-state actors in education: Who chooses? Who loses? UNESCO 2021/2022. ↑
2-Education disrupted: Impact of the conflict on children’s education in Yemen. UNICEF 2021. ↑
3-Global education monitoring report. Education for people and planer: Creating Sustainable Futures for All. UNESCO 2016. ↑
4-Global education monitoring report. Education for all 2000-2015: Achievements and challenges. UNESCO 2015. ↑
5-Education disrupted: Impact of the conflict on children’s education in Yemen. UNICEF 2021. ↑
6-Global education monitoring report. Non-state actors in education: Who chooses? Who loses? UNESCO 2021/2022. ↑
7-Global education monitoring report. Inclusion and education: All means all. UNESCO 2020. ↑
8-Global education monitoring report. Education for people and planer: Creating Sustainable Futures for All. UNESCO 2016. ↑
9-If not in school… The paths children cross in Yemen. UNICEF 2018. ↑
https://ophi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/multidimensional-arab-poverty-report-english.pdf ↑
