Trapped in the Crossfire: Yemen's Fractured Education System Threatens Students' Futures

Yemeni school students find themselves divided by the country's parallel education systems. In Sanaa, Yemen, 19-year-old Bashar Mohammed has enrolled in multiple English-language courses since finishing high school last year. Intent on improving his language skills, he hopes to land a scholarship to pursue undergraduate studies abroad. With a good command of English and a high school certificate, Mohammed believes he can one day secure an opportunity to study at a university overseas. However, because he completed high school in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, which is under the control of the Houthi rebel group, Mohammed now worries that government authorities in Aden will not validate his academic credentials.

Yemen has been divided between the internationally-recognised government and the Houthis since the country’s war started more than a decade ago. The Aden-based government Education Ministry issued a circular in late July suspending the authentication of some school certificates issued in Houthi-controlled areas. The ministry stated in early August that it could not access official records needed to verify some students’ documents, blaming the Houthis for the problem. Students have been left in the middle of the quagmire, uncertain of how it will be resolved.

“It amounts to saying that our 12 years of schooling were a waste of time. This is painful,” Mohammed told Al Jazeera. This situation also means that, for now, the dream of studying abroad is over. Yemenis who want to leave the country to study must have their certificates authenticated by the government’s Foreign Ministry, but that cannot happen without a stamp from the Education Ministry confirming that the certificate is genuine.

Ayman Ahmed, an 18-year-old who just graduated from high school in Houthi-controlled Raymah province, said it was students who were being punished, not the Houthis. “The students and their parents are powerless, and they cannot go against the Houthis or ask Houthi authorities to coordinate with the government in Aden,” Ahmed said, highlighting the dangers of dissent against the rebel group, who have imprisoned many opponents and UN staff. “So, treating our certificates as invalid is collective punishment, and it is unfair.”

Earlier this month, the government’s Minister of Education Adel al-Abadi clarified that the suspension of certificate authentications in Houthi-controlled areas does not apply to all academic years. He noted that the ministry has access to student records for some years, allowing it to verify and authenticate certificates issued during those periods. “There are certificates for which there is no data in the ministry’s records, and therefore it is difficult for us to verify their validity and accuracy,” Al-Abadi explained. However, Ahmed argued that this was not the fault of the affected students. “The education officials in Sanaa and Aden can coordinate and resolve the issue of the missing data,” he said. “Our education and certificates should not be a victim of their disputes.”

With Yemen’s geography fragmented between the Houthis and the Yemeni government since 2015, each side has adopted its own education policies, creating two parallel systems. The school year begins in June in areas controlled by the Houthis, while schools in areas under the control of the government reopen at the end of August. School curricula have also diverged, with the Houthis making numerous alterations to previous textbooks.

“There are two systems, two ministries, with zero coordination,” said Mohammed Abdu, a sociology researcher at Taiz University. “Society, and in particular the students, cannot escape the negative impact of this imbalance.” Abdu explained that in addition to different calendars and curricula, Yemen’s competing education systems feature different high school test formats and exam dates. A recent uptick in fighting in Yemen, which has threatened to drag the country back into all-out war after a relatively quiet four years, is likely to cause further problems for students, according to Abdu. He pointed out that violence would likely displace families and damage schools, much like previous rounds of the war. According to the United Nations, around 2,800 schools in Yemen have been destroyed, damaged, or repurposed due to the conflict. Furthermore, the UN reports that more than 6.6 million children were out of school in Yemen this year—about one-third of the country’s school-age children.

“The warring sides had better reach a consensus on a policy that mitigates the ordeal of Yemeni students and distances education from political or military rivalries,” Abdu urged.

Aref Naji Ali, an advisor with the Ministry of Education in Aden, told Al Jazeera that the continued division in educational policies is one of “the most dangerous consequences of the Yemeni conflict.” He added, “Education should not become another arena for political division. Students are the most vulnerable, and it is unjust for them to bear the brunt of the division between institutions and authorities.” While Ali defended the Aden-based Education Ministry’s decision to suspend the endorsement of unverified certificates, he placed the blame squarely on the Houthis. “Our responsibility is to protect the right to education and preserve the legality of the educational process and the national educational identity so that the current division doesn’t become a permanent rift in the minds of future generations,” Ali stated.

Yet, for those impacted, those sentiments fall short. Ammar Amri, a schoolteacher in Sanaa, expressed anger that his students are being robbed of opportunities they deserve. “Many of the students have the academic ability and financial means to pursue education abroad,” Amri said. “With this ongoing conflict, many dreams will be shattered. This is a loss for the students and a loss for society as a whole. It appears that the warring sides have cut education from their list of priorities, and it does not concern them.”