The Houthi movement has issued directives to private schools in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, mandating that they organize at least three student marches and rallies each week. According to Asharq Al-Awsat, the militia threatens fines and the permanent closure of institutions that fail to comply with these orders. The mobilization events are designed to promote military escalation in Taiz and other battlefronts while glorifying the group’s leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.
School administrators in districts including Safiya, Sabeen, Azal, Wehda, and Tahrir have resisted these directives. Asharq Al-Awsat reported that parents are threatening to withdraw their children from schools due to the significant disruption of lessons and the introduction of activities unrelated to academic instruction. This resistance places school leaders in a precarious position, caught between government coercion and parental backlash. One private school principal in the Tahrir district condemned the use of license renewals as a pressure tactic, stating that the measures put the education of hundreds of students at risk.
The education ministry within the Houthi-controlled unrecognized government has responded to this resistance by threatening a range of penalties. Asharq Al-Awsat noted that the militia has turned annual school license renewals into a mechanism to force administrators to implement mobilization programs. The report indicates that schools are now facing both Houthi financial levies and ideological scrutiny, compounding the difficulties already present in the sector.
Education professionals told Asharq Al-Awsat that they are increasingly alarmed by the daily mobilization events imposed on students. A teacher in the Azal district stated that these rallies are consuming time that should be dedicated to core subjects. The report highlighted that teachers who refuse to mobilize students or make them chant slogans face threats of disciplinary action. One parent, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed fear that the current measures could eventually lead to children being sent to the frontlines, describing the situation as a violation of children's right to education.
This escalation coincides with a broader collapse in the education sector across Houthi-controlled areas. Asharq Al-Awsat reported that the militia has refused to pay salaries to approximately 170,000 teachers and education employees since 2016. Despite collecting billions of Yemeni rials in taxes and fees from educational institutions, the group has left tens of thousands of educators unpaid for years, leading to worsening living conditions and widespread strikes.