Houthi militias have launched a campaign to privatize public schools in areas under their control. The move will affect hundreds of schools in Sanaa and other governorates held by the Iran-backed militia.
The move matches other Houthi efforts focused on raising funds and promoting their racist ideology
It also drew massive public rage from Yemenis who said that the privatization of public schools is a violation of the law and an attack against the right to free education.
In recent days, the Houthis also imposed a host of arbitrary restrictions against private schools in their territory. They also forced some schools named after member states of the Arab Coalition to rebrand.
Sources based in Sanaa revealed that among the privatized schools in the capital was the all-girl Balqis School. It was not only denationalized, but also made into an all-boy institution.
Pupils at Balqis School will now have to pay 65,000 Yemeni rials for each level between grade one and grade six. The registration fees for grades seven through nine stand at a staggering 85,000 Yemeni rials.
High school goers will need to pay 95,000 Yemeni rials to enroll.
Parents of pupils in Sanaa told Asharq Al-Awsat that the privatization of free education is another crime to be added to a long list of violations committed by the Iran-backed group against the education sector.
They also stressed that the Houthi move is illegal.
“Houthis seek to exploit public schools after privatizing them for material enrichment at the expense of the suffering of students and families,” Sanaa-based teachers and academics told Asharq Al-Awsat.
“Houthis ramped up their harsh crusade against Yemen’s educational and societal freedoms in August, including changing school curriculums to glorify Imam Al-Hadi Yahya, the father of the country’s Imamate which ruled north Yemen from 897 until 1962,” Inside Arabia reported on the Houthi violations against the education sector.
