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Houthi, Saleh Militias Destroyed 1,700 Schools and Recruited Thousands of Students
Educational system in Yemen is facing a major challenge in restoring the legitimacy as one of the most important pathways in building a new Yemen after Houthi militias and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh forces have led to a deep rift in the educational structure, in terms of material, moral and intellectual aspects, which notably represented in changing curriculums and introduction of revolutionary, sectarian, hostile tendencies thereof.
During the period of the coup, education crisis has worsened, especially as a lot of students have been deprived of their schools due to the conversion of the remaining ones to evacuation centers for displaced people, which was confirmed by a report of United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF) that 3,584 schools were closed because of security risks or for being converted into military barracks by Houthi militias and Saleh forces and about 22 government and private universities have been damaged directly and indirectly.
Houthi militias have deprived more than 2.5 million Yemeni students of education, as a result of wars being waged across various governorates of Yemen; in addition to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people and their closure of thousands of schools while hundreds of them have been turned into military barracks.
On its part, the Ministry of Education of Yemen is exerting great efforts when developed a special program for a comprehensive rehabilitation of all students.
Yemeni Minister of Education, Dr. Abdullah Lamlas, has stressed in previous statements that the ministry is working in full swing to promote the educational system and won't accredit any certificates for students who have been granted certificates after changing curriculums in Sana'a and the addition of new subjects that may serve the agenda of the Houthi and Saleh militias, pointing out that the standard will be only through the cumulative grade point average.
He explained that the children who were forced to fight in the ranks of the Houthi militias would be given settlement programs to be enrolled with the rest of their colleagues, in compensation for school years they missed, noting that there are more than 1,700 schools destroyed by Houthi militias during the war and turned them into military barracks.
The Yemeni minister said that the war being waged by Houthi militias has destroyed the project of developing basic education accomplished over the past 15 years and financially supported by some regional and foreign countries along with international agencies, pointing out that through cooperation and assistance being provided by King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid, United Arab Emirates Red Crescent and some relief organizations, the rehabilitation and maintenance of destroyed schools in liberated areas are being carried out.
The minister further said dispatching students program to Iran is being stopped which had already been approved by Houthis through sending students on scholarship to Iran whose number is estimated at 7,000 Yemeni students currently in Qom, Iran. Dr. Lamlas pointing out that the Yemeni Ministry of Education will stand up against any attempt to implement a foreign agenda in Yemen.