Yemeni Children Forced Out of Schools as Conflict Escalates

In Taiz province, Yemen — Every morning, 12-year-old Ahmed wakes up under a tent in a displacement camp in Wadi Bani Khawlan, in the Jabal Habashi district of Taiz province. He spends the day playing with other children or lying in the tent. That has been his daily routine for the past two weeks, since his family fled their village of al-Ashroh, west of Taiz city.

Ahmed says life in the camp is "really boring." He misses everything about his home and village, especially his schoolbag and the walk to school each morning.

"I left my bag at home when we ran from the fighting, and I don't know if I'll ever carry it again, go back to class, or see my teachers and friends," Ahmed said.

The camp where he is staying has no school. Even if he returned to his old village, his school has closed. According to UNICEF, hundreds of schools in conflict-affected areas of Yemen have suspended teaching, disrupting the education of more than 137,000 students.

The agency added that more than 57,000 children were displaced by the fighting in the first two weeks of September alone, a figure expected to rise as the conflict continues.

After four years of relative calm, armed clashes between government-backed forces and the Houthis intensified sharply in August and September, dealing another blow to Yemen's schools and students and deepening the country's education crisis.

Survival first, education later

When Ahmed's family arrived at the camp, they had to prioritize immediate essentials: shelter and basic living needs.

"Before the war reached our home and school, my family cared about whether I finished my homework," Ahmed said. "Today, no one in the camp cares about schooling. Every family is focused on the tent, food and water."

Meeting those needs is a difficult task for humanitarian organizations assisting the displaced. On October 2, the United Nations said more than 150,000 people had been forced from their homes by the renewed fighting, and the number is expected to rise further. That comes on top of more than 5 million Yemenis displaced since the war began with the Houthi takeover of Sanaa in 2014.

Mohammed Radman, a displacement coordinator with the IDP Camp Management Executive Unit in Jabal Habashi district, told Al Jazeera that thousands of students are being displaced, many forced to put their education on hold in what he described as "horrific circumstances."

"These students have no other choice," Radman said. "All schools near the front lines have closed. Even if they wanted to walk for kilometers each day to a school that is still operating, those schools are already overcrowded. Displaced students cannot be accommodated."

He divided schools in conflict areas into three categories: schools requisitioned as shelters for the displaced, overcrowded schools, and schools on or near the front lines.

"This creates a real challenge for society, the Yemeni government and international organizations," he said.

"Homelessness and begging await them"

According to UNICEF, even before this latest escalation, 3.2 million Yemeni children were out of school.

With the new and ongoing wave of displacement, the challenges facing Yemeni children will only worsen, according to Tawfiq al-Humaidi, president of the SAM Organization for Rights and Freedoms.

"This war makes them vulnerable to homelessness, begging and the risk of forced recruitment," al-Humaidi said. "The alternatives outside the classroom for children are all unsafe."

Although families hope their time in displacement camps will be temporary, al-Humaidi believes the education disruption caused by displacement could be long-lasting.

According to him, prolonged stays in camps can accustom children to a different way of life, making it even harder for them to return to school later.

"The consequences are not just lost lessons, but the loss of the social and psychological protection that schools provide," al-Humaidi said. "When schools close, children become more vulnerable to violence, exploitation, recruitment and child labor."

Finding a way back to school

Abdulkarim, a teacher in Taiz who did not want to give his full name, told Al Jazeera that teaching in a "war zone" is extremely difficult.

"When students hear explosions, fear bullets and have to live in flimsy tents, learning cannot happen. I have seen how small children cry when they hear loud gunfire," he said.

According to Abdulkarim, the priority is to give students a safe environment.

"Once we have that, we can find ways to place students in schools that are still operating or set up alternative centers so they can continue their education," he added.

Afrah al-Humaiqani, a sociologist in Aden, said recent conflict in various parts of Yemen risks depriving thousands of students of their education, and warned it could contribute to creating a "new illiterate generation" in the country.

However, according to al-Humaiqani, the impact of the crisis can still be mitigated if the Yemeni government and international organizations cooperate and coordinate their actions.

"Safe camps are needed so students feel protected," she said. "Then comes providing teachers and textbooks, remedial programs to make up for lost learning, and psychosocial support for children."