Dropping out of school in Yemen.. War targets the educated generation

Education has never been a luxury or a luxury need, whoever wants to acquire it and whoever wants to leave it, but it is an urgent and binding need that guarantees the future well-being of society.

Therefore, the educational institution was among the strategic goals of priority for all forces that want to control the state or society, because the effects of their targeting do not stop at the boundaries of a moment or a year, but extend to the next generations. , and targeting them is a fatal blow that causes a deep rift in the foundations of society.

Vital institutions in general, and educational institutions in particular, do not stand aside from the aggression of the Saudi coalition on Yemen, which has produced many humanitarian disasters that are no longer just numbers that appear on television screens, or headlines in news headlines. agencies and websites, but have become a real threat to the present and the future.

From school corridors to street sidewalks

The child Ahmed (12 years old) was displaced from Al-Hodeidah province to the capital Sana’a. Two years ago, he dropped out of school to move from the school halls to the sidewalks, looking for a living as a car cleaner. The multi-year siege and aggression that engulfed the governorship prevented him from finishing his education, and forced him to work, because he works to support his exiled family who live in difficult and harsh living conditions.

Ahmed is one of thousands of children who left their school desks and never returned. He is one of the children who did not have the luxury of determining their own destiny, because some of them were forced to stop attending school due to the displacement of their families, and for others, the schools were premeditatedly destroyed by the aggressor’s missiles, in addition to the difficult living conditions and the suffocating economic war that stood between numerous children and their continued Teaching them, either before or during the aggression.

Statistics lack accuracy and credibility

Recently, UNICEF received a statistic that more than two million Yemeni children are out of school due to the ongoing conflict in the country, according to the description.

Somaya Al-Taifi, head of the Insaf organization for women’s and children’s rights, says Al-Mayadeen Net: “The total number of students in the Republic of Yemen, according to statistics issued by the Ministry of Education, is 5,983,707 students. A large number of them have been affected by the attacks of Saudi aggression.”

Al-Taifi added: “There is indeed a large number of children who have dropped out of school, as statistics show that their number exceeds one million boys and girls, in addition to the two million boys and girls who were out of education from previous periods as a result of the systematic targeting of the education process in Yemen For 8 years, for years education has faced dangerous turns and challenges, the first of which is the direct targeting of schools by warplanes of the aggressor coalition, and the brutal killing of children, with the aim of stopping the educational process and forcing Yemenis not to send their children to schools , because of the fear of aggression. The students teach them legendary steadfastness in the face of the brutality of that aggression.

Likewise, a representative of the Yemeni Center for Human Rights, Majed Al-Washli, questioned the statistics released by UNICEF, saying: Al-Mayadeen NetThere are no state, official or other private organization statistics on the number of children who did not attend school in the years of war and aggression, due to the technical incompetence of statistical centers, except that these statistics This issue received official attention before the aggression against Yemen.

Al-Washli added: “Currently, there is regional and international negligence in dealing with humanitarian issues. Therefore, any published statistics are not accurate or confirmed, except that the regional and international organizations that remain in Yemen are not meeting even 20% of childhood needs, considering to the international blockade and lack of intent.” Serious about dealing with the current situation! UNICEF is still subject to Saudi surveillance at the behest of the United States and therefore seeks to produce reports that make the image of Saudi Arabia dignified and humane in exchange for massive financial support for the organization.”

Human Disaster Reduction Executive Director Amal Al-Maqdhi agrees with Al-Washli, noting in her speech Al-Mayadeen Net He points out that the UNICEF statistics may not be accurate due to the lack of field research, and says: “I am sure that the figure in the UNICEF statistics is approximate or predictive, and not based on a field study and survey, because international organizations and many agencies, whether are media or related to humanitarian organizations, Reports, figures and percentages are often issued without specifying how these figures were arrived at and where these field research and surveys were conducted.Schools with students!

Children who leave school between historical accumulation and aggression

Speaking about the reasons that make children refrain from education, Al-Makhadhi says: “Let’s be realistic and say that the phenomenon of dropping out of school is not a result of the last eight years, it is present. , has existed before and is widespread. The reasons are often due to family poverty.” And its dependence on child labor, as well as the distance of schools in other provinces and villages, because children face many dangers and great difficulties in going to school, and dropping out of school for this reason is often more pronounced among girls than among boys.

She added: “There are also family reasons, especially in the countryside. Families that own animal and vegetable farms need girls to look after sheep and housework, and they also need boys to farm and sell the produce. This crisis has greatly increased in the last eight years due to the consequences aggression.” Displacement of millions of families, lack of wages for 70% of people, which caused an increase in poverty, makes it difficult for families to enroll their children in school. education, as well as bombing and total or partial destruction of schools, especially in provinces and villages.

Violation of conventions was met with international silence

International charters and laws stipulate that a child should enjoy all necessary and necessary means to enjoy healthy mental and physical development. Do these charters reflect tangible reality or are they just slogans and yellow propaganda?

Al-Maqdhi points out that the international community and the United Nations are primarily responsible for the tragic situation in which the children of Yemen live, saying: “The international community in general and the United Nations in particular have worsened the situation of children, covering up the real criminal behind the killing of children, expelling them from their homes and depriving them of their right to education, health and everything else.” The rights prescribed by international conventions, and they have made the tragedy of the Yemeni child a means of earning funds and support during these years, and the biggest beneficiaries are those who work on it, not the Yemeni child.

She added, “International treaties also do not point the finger at those who have besieged the people and caused them suffering, and at the countries that sell their weapons to the coalition countries to instruct them to betray the Fourth Geneva Convention to their protectors, but make the victim the executioner or the victim equate with the executioner.”

In turn, Al-Taifi said, “If the international community had the right attitude, the aggression would stop,” and commented, “The aggressor coalition’s targeting of education and its bombing of schools and educational institutions is a violation of the child’s rights Bill of Rights. The aggressor coalition has violated all international treaties and laws prohibiting the targeting of education and committed the most heinous crimes and massacres against schools, students and educational staff, such as targeting Al-Falah school in Nihm district of Sana’a governorate, targeting Al-Rai school and Dhahyan’s student bus , and other horrible crimes.

Mrs. Amal Al-Maqdhi believes that organizations should seriously address the situation in a practical way, saying: “Organizations should seriously work to study the situation of children in Yemen and publish real numbers and percentages that show childhood suffering and its root causes and how to get out of of this suffering by proposing solutions that the state must. And civil society organizations and donor countries join together to work on it.”

The situation of childhood in Yemen has become critical as a result of the historical accumulation and political impotence left by the previous regime, and the aggression that caused the bloodshed of Yemeni children, their displacement, impoverishment, deprivation of their right to education, and even robbing them of their innate right to a decent life!