For the sake of their sectarian project, the Houthis privatize education to lead the generation to battles of death

English - Sunday 18 October 2020 الساعة 08:04 pm
Sanaa, NewsYemen, Jalal Muhammad:

 The Houthi militia wreaked havoc with all state institutions, and practiced their systematic destruction according to the scheme entrusted to them to destroy everything in Yemen.

From the army, security, and revenue and health institutions, the militia continued its destruction and privatization of institutions to access government education by transforming Sanaa government schools into private schools that reap great material wealth, as part of a destructive policy aimed at education and its free education guaranteed by the law, and perpetuates ignorance and targeting an entire generation of students with sectarianism.  

The Houthi militia gave way to private education without any oversight on schools, except for financial control through which groups impose huge sums on the administrations of private schools, which has led the tuition fees to insane levels that are difficult for the citizen to bear.

Rafif's mother, a government employee, says, "I went to register my daughter in the third grade in a private school to be surprised that the tuition fees increased greatly."

She added: "They asked me for 170 thousand riyals other than the school uniform, and when we asked them why all of this amount of money, they said it is not in our hand, the ministry imposed on us sums, and the educational district has sums, other than the levies imposed as an effort and support for the Prophet’s birth, as well as imposing some students free on the pretext of the children of the martyrs."  

 Rafif’s mother stands confused, as she says, between her inability to bear the expenses of private education, or leaving her daughter in the loss of government education, which has no control or quality due to deliberate negligence.

One of the directors of private schools in Ma'in District stated that if the matter was left to them, there would be competitive prices, and certainly lower fees than they are now, however unbelievable things are imposed on private schools, for example, he and some schools within the directorate were asked to finance the building of yards for one of the educational areas, as well as to buy the iron gate and take care of the preparation work of paint and ceramics, at the expense of private schools, and this is something that no one has ever asked for, as it is the government's competence.

He added, in every religious or political event for the group, they come down to us and impose sums of money, the last of which was the event of the commemoration of Hussein's martyrdom, as they imposed on my school two million riyals as a contribution to commemorate the memorial, stressing that a number of partners in the school began to think about withdrawing and liquidating their capital because there was no longer any use of investing in this area.

Citizen Yahya Hussein Al-Surami said: One of the wonders of the Houthis is that they have come with all the strange and bizarre actions that they are converting public schools into private, and requesting sums of up to one hundred thousand riyals per year, while the law and the constitution impose free education and guarantee it for all.

Adding: "These groups have no good in them. It is not in their interest to teach the society. They want an ignorant society that they can easily lead to battles and death for the sake of their project. 

Their first concern is how to earn money only, and we have seen how they turned the yard of Al-Shaab school into a marketplace and shops without the slightest sense of legal responsibility and ethical behavior towards this violation. "

In response to a question by Newsyemen, Professor Najat Abdulrahman, the vice-dean of a government school in the Al-Wehda District, said that the educational process in the areas controlled by the Houthi militia has become farcical and absurd.

In addition to sectarianism and privatization of schools, textbooks are not provided, in addition to the great overcrowding of students in schools due to the use of some hangars and laboratories for warehouses of the relief organizations.

She indicated that a large number of teachers have moved to work in other jobs due to the interruption of their salaries for years, and this is one of the tools for destroying the educational process.

The Houthi militia had decided to impose fees of (65 thousand riyals) starting with the first grade to the sixth grade the seventh to the ninth grade (85 thousand riyals), and amount of (95 thousand riyals) for the secondary school, in some of the government schools that were selected for privatization.

Educators indicated that the Houthi move may affect other government schools, noting that it aims, on one hand, to exploit public schools after privatizing them for material enrichment at the expense of the suffering of students and families, and on the other hand, the privatization of public schools provides greater opportunities for the group to devote its sectarian curricula that students reject.

During the past years, the Houthis dismissed most school principals in their areas of control, replacing them with directors loyal to them, in addition to attracting the largest number of students and pushing them to the battlefronts, through sectarian courses and lectures.