A recent UN report has indicated that nearly one-third of girls in Yemen drop out of education due to early marriage, and their chances of returning to education diminish, which exacerbates the country's literacy levels. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), in a report titled "Making Up for Lost Education," stated that "more than 30 percent of girls in Yemen marry before the age of 18, and once they drop out of school, their chances of returning and catching up with education diminish, creating a vicious cycle of illiteracy and poverty across generations."
The report added that the prolonged conflict in Yemen, ongoing for nine years, has led to waves of mass displacement, devastated the country's economy, caused the failure of basic service delivery systems, and deteriorated education. UNICEF clarified that one in four children does not attend school, and even those who can attend face overcrowded classrooms and poorly equipped educational facilities, while teachers' salaries have been nearly suspended since 2016 in the provinces under the control of the Houthi group in the north of the country.
The report noted that UNICEF supports the provision of free classes on essential reading, writing, and arithmetic skills for children who cannot afford education or those who have dropped out of formal education, to help them access meaningful educational opportunities and return to formal education when circumstances allow.
UNICEF revealed that, with funding from the European Union, it implements non-formal education programs for children who have dropped out of school and supports teachers with monthly incentives. So far, it has managed to support a total of 50,000 children in accessing basic reading, writing, and arithmetic lessons, in addition to accelerated learning programs in Taiz, Marib, Al Hudaydah, Hajjah, and Ibb.
