Yemen’s displaced children dream of returning to school

More than 137,000 students in conflict zones lose access to education, deepening Yemen’s already dire schooling crisis.

The latest fighting in Yemen's Taiz governorate has forced thousands of civilians to flee their homes [File: Stringer/Reuters]

Taiz, Yemen – At sunrise, 12-year-old Ahmed wakes up under the roof of a tent in a displacement camp in the Wadi Bani Khawlan area of Taiz governorate’s Jabal Habashi district. He spends his days playing with other children or retreating to lie down inside the tent. This has been his routine for the past two weeks, ever since he had to flee his village of al-Ashroh, west of the city of Taiz.

Life in the camp is “boring”, he says. He misses everything about his home and his village, particularly his school bag and his walk to school every morning.

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“I left my school bag in the house as we fled the clashes, and I do not know if I will carry it again and go back to my classroom and meet my teachers and classmates,” Ahmed told Al Jazeera.

There’s no school at the displacement camp for Ahmed to attend, and even if he were back home in his village, his school there is also closed. Across conflict-affected parts of Yemen, hundreds of schools have suspended classes, disrupting education for more than 137,000 students, according to UNICEF.

The United Nations body added that more than 57,000 children had been displaced as a result of the fighting in Yemen in the first two weeks of September, a number that will likely have increased as fighting continues.

After four years of relative calm, armed clashes between pro-government forces and the Houthis intensified sharply in August and September, dealing a new blow to Yemeni schools and students and further deepening the country’s education crisis .

Survival over education

After arriving at the displacement camp, Ahmed’s family had immediate priorities: securing shelter and meeting their basic needs.

“Before the war reached my house and school, my family would care if I completed my school homework,” Ahmed said. “Today, no one cares about education in the camp. Families’ focus shifted to tents, food and water.”

Meeting those needs is a difficult task for the humanitarian groups attempting to help the displaced. The UN said on October 2 that more than 150,000 people had been displaced by the renewed conflict, a number that is expected to rise. That is on top of the more than five million Yemenis who had previously been displaced as a result of the war, which began with the Houthi takeover of Sanaa in 2014.

Mohammed Radman, a displacement coordinator with the Executive Unit for IDP Camp Management in Jabal Habashi district, told Al Jazeera that thousands of students are displaced, and that many of them have been forced to put their education aside amid what he described as “horrific circumstances”.

“These students do not have options,” Radman said. “All schools near the front lines are closed. And even if these students wanted to travel several kilometres every day to reach functioning schools, those schools are already crowded. So, the displaced students cannot be accommodated.”

He divided schools in conflict-affected areas into three groups: schools being used to shelter the displaced, overcrowded schools and schools on or near the front lines.

“This creates a real challenge for society, the Yemeni government and international organisations,” he said.

‘Homelessness and begging await them’

Before the latest escalation, 3.2 million children were already out of school in Yemen, according to UNICEF.

And now, with the new and ongoing wave of displacement, the ordeal facing Yemeni children is set to worsen, said Tawfiq al-Humaidi, the president of SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties.

“This war leaves them vulnerable to homelessness, begging, and potentially forced recruitment,” al-Humaidi said. “So, alternatives available to children outside the classroom are not safe.”

While families hope that their stay in the displacement camps will be temporary, al-Humaidi said that the disruption to education caused by displacement may last for a long time.

He said that prolonged stays in displacement camps can pull children into a different daily routine and make their eventual return to school more difficult.

“The repercussions extend beyond deprivation and the loss of educational lessons to the loss of the social and psychological protection provided by schools,” al-Humaidi said. “When schools close, children become more vulnerable to violence, exploitation, recruitment and child labour.”

Finding a way back to school

Abdulkarim, a teacher in Taiz who did not wish to give his full name, told Al Jazeera that providing education in a “war zone” is challenging.

“When students hear explosions, fear bullets and stay in shaky tents, education cannot happen. I saw how little children cry when they hear the sounds of heavy gunfire,” he said.

Providing students with a safe environment is the priority, Abdulkarim said.

“Once that is achieved, we can try to accommodate students in functioning schools or create alternative centres so that students can continue to receive education,” he added.

Afrah al-Humaiqani, a sociologist in Aden, said the recent hostilities in different parts of Yemen risk denying thousands of students access to education, which she warned could contribute to creating a “new illiterate generation” in the country.

However, reducing the impact of this crisis is possible, and the Yemeni government and international organisations can cooperate and coordinate to address it, al-Humaiqani told Al Jazeera.

“There is a need for safe camps where students can feel secure,” she said. “This can be followed by the provision of teachers and textbooks, programmes to address learning loss, and provide psychosocial support for children.”

冲突地区超过 137,000 名学生失去受教育的机会，加剧了也门本已严峻的教育危机。

也门塔伊兹省最新爆发的冲突已迫使数千名平民逃离家园。[图片：路透社/Stringer]

也门塔伊兹——日出时分，12岁的艾哈迈德在塔伊兹省贾巴尔哈巴什区瓦迪巴尼哈乌兰地区的一个难民营帐篷里醒来。他白天要么和其他孩子玩耍，要么回到帐篷里躺下休息。过去两周，自从他被迫逃离位于塔伊兹市西部的阿什罗村以来，这就是他的日常生活。

他说，难民营的生活“很无聊”。他想念家乡和村庄的一切，尤其是他的书包和每天早上上学的路。

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也门政府军的目标是萨那，但击败胡塞武装仍将是一项挑战。

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“我们逃离冲突时，我把书包留在了家里，我不知道我是否还能背上它，回到教室，见到我的老师和同学们，”艾哈迈德告诉半岛电视台。

艾哈迈德所在的流离失所者营地没有学校可供他上学，即使他回到家乡的村庄，那里的学校也已经关闭。据联合国儿童基金会统计，在也门受冲突影响的地区，数百所学校停课，导致超过13.7万名学生的教育中断。

联合国机构补充说，9 月的前两周，也门战乱导致超过 57,000 名儿童流离失所，随着战乱的继续，这一数字可能会增加。

在经历了四年的相对平静之后，亲政府武装与胡塞武装之间的冲突在 8 月和 9 月急剧升级，给也门的学校和学生带来了新的打击，并进一步加深了该国的教育危机。

生存重于教育

到达流离失所者营地后，艾哈迈德一家当务之急是：找到住处并满足基本需求。

“在战争蔓延到我家和学校之前，我的家人会关心我是否完成了学校作业，”艾哈迈德说。“如今，在难民营里，没有人关心教育。家人们的关注点都转移到了帐篷、食物和水上。”

满足这些需求对试图帮助流离失所者的各人道主义组织来说是一项艰巨的任务。联合国10月2日表示，冲突再起已导致超过15万人流离失所，预计这一数字还会上升。此外，此前已有超过500万也门人因战争而流离失所。这场战争始于2014年胡塞武装占领萨那。

贾巴尔哈巴什地区境内流离失所者营地管理执行部门的流离失所协调员穆罕默德·拉德曼告诉半岛电视台，成千上万的学生流离失所，其中许多人被迫在“可怕的境况”下放弃学业。

拉德曼说：“这些学生别无选择。所有靠近前线的学校都关闭了。即使这些学生愿意每天跋涉几公里去仍在正常上课的学校，那些学校也已经人满为患。因此，这些流离失所的学生无法得到安置。”

他将受冲突影响地区的学校分为三类：用作安置流离失所者的学校、过度拥挤的学校以及位于前线或前线附近的学校。

“这对社会、也门政府和国际组织来说都是一个真正的挑战，”他说。

“等待他们的将是无家可归和乞讨。”

据联合国儿童基金会统计，在最近局势升级之前，也门已有 320 万儿童失学。

SAM 人权与自由组织主席陶菲克·胡迈迪表示，随着新一轮持续不断的流离失所浪潮，也门儿童面临的苦难势必会进一步加剧。

“这场战争使他们很容易流落街头、乞讨度日，甚至可能被迫入伍，”胡迈迪说。“因此，孩子们在课堂之外的其他选择并不安全。”

虽然各家庭希望他们在流离失所者营地的停留只是暂时的，但胡迈迪表示，流离失所造成的教育中断可能会持续很长时间。

他表示，长期居住在流离失所者营地会使孩子们养成不同的日常生活习惯，并使他们最终重返校园变得更加困难。

“其影响不仅限于失去受教育的机会和课程，还包括失去学校提供的社会和心理保护，”胡迈迪说。“学校关闭后，儿童更容易遭受暴力、剥削、招募和童工的侵害。”

找到重返校园的路

塔伊兹的一位不愿透露全名的教师阿卜杜勒卡里姆告诉半岛电视台，在“战区”提供教育是一项挑战。

“当学生们听到爆炸声、害怕子弹、待在摇摇晃晃的帐篷里时，教育根本无法进行。我亲眼看到小孩子们听到激烈的枪声时是如何哭泣的，”他说。

阿卜杜勒卡里姆说，为学生提供安全的环境是首要任务。

“一旦实现这一点，我们就可以尝试安排学生在正常运转的学校就读，或者创建替代中心，以便学生能够继续接受教育，”他补充道。

亚丁的社会学家阿芙拉·胡迈卡尼表示，也门各地最近发生的敌对行动可能会剥夺成千上万学生接受教育的机会，她警告说，这可能会导致该国出现“新的文盲一代”。

胡迈卡尼告诉半岛电视台，减轻这场危机的影响是可能的，也门政府和国际组织可以合作协调来应对这场危机。

她说：“我们需要安全的营地，让学生感到安心。之后才能提供教师和教材，开展弥补学习差距的项目，并为孩子们提供心理社会支持。”