Private schools in Ibb.. Institutions threatened by confiscation and Houthi activities and levies paid for by students (special report)

Expensive fees

Parents and students complained about the crazy increase in tuition fees in private schools in Ibb Governorate (central Yemen) this year, compared to previous years, in light of the continued large levies that the militia continues to impose on the administrations of those schools.

Parents who spoke to "Yemeni Youth Net" said that private schools in the city of Ibb and its directorates have raised tuition fees for students in various educational stages in an unprecedented manner, which has become difficult to bear in light of the difficult living conditions and the high cost of living.

They explained that tuition fees in a number of private schools start from 140 thousand riyals (old edition) for preparatory school, and increase to between 170 and 190 thousand riyals for the first grades, 180-200 thousand riyals for grades four to six, 200-220 for grades seven to nine, and 250-280 thousand for secondary school (the dollar is about 538 riyals).

They pointed out that these fees do not include fees for (books, uniforms, and transportation), which amount to a total of about 50,000 riyals for each student.

A board showing the list of fees in a private school in Ibb

The increase in tuition fees has prompted some parents to look for difficult solutions, the least of which is to look for low-efficiency schools with lower fees or new schools that have announced discounts for new students, even if they are far from their residential areas. This option has consequences related to transportation costs and security concerns.

Other citizens were forced to withdraw their children’s files, like Abu Mustafa, to join the ranks of about 4.5 million school-age children out of school, according to international and UN organizations.

Multiple educational sources confirm that the Houthi militia has transformed private schools in Ibb Governorate, in recent years, into incubators for spreading its sectarian project, through curricula that have been significantly modified, and sectarian activities that the militia forces school principals to hold from time to time, in addition to the books and notebooks that have flooded the libraries of those schools and school radio stations.

Educator Hesham Abdo, a pseudonym for a teacher at a private school, explained that the militia does not trust school administrations and therefore resorts to conducting trial tests for some classes to ensure that the modified curriculum is being taught.

In the same context, the educator explained that the militia forces teachers and administrative staff in private schools to attend sectarian courses and listen to the speeches of the militia leader. It also imposed an activity officer in a large number of private schools in the governorate, while linking some activity officers in other schools to Houthi cultural supervisors.

He stressed that the militia, through the activities and cultural officials, has begun to control the media content in the activities and broadcasts in these schools, especially those related to the annual honoring ceremonies, stressing that the militia imposes financial penalties and threatens to close schools that violate the holding of these events, which have been transformed under pressure into places for sectarian and religious mobilization and the inculcation of a culture of death among students.

Play at a school party about armed clashes - Continue

He pointed out that the militia completely manages the student honoring ceremonies in schools, starting with the name of the ceremony and its banners, passing through the media program of segments, lyrics, writing plays, and designing costumes.

In his interview with "Yemeni Youth Net", the educator Hisham pointed out the songs, hymns and plays that are performed on these occasions that have a special character for the students and that remain stuck in their minds for many years as they are honorary occasions, and the same applies to the parents who are invited to attend.

He stated that the plays of honoring occasions and private radio broadcasts contain scenes of clashes with weapons and shooting, and chants of the "Khomeini" cry; in a consecration of the culture of violence and a clear incitement to attract children to the ideology of the militia and to join the battlefronts.

He pointed out that the militia, in its efforts to invade the minds of the youth, deliberately forces students on such occasions to wear special clothes that are restricted to what are called "Hashemite" clothing, such as the "qawq" and the "tawza jambiya".

The educator warned of the bleak future awaiting generations of the governorate and the rest of the governorates under the control of the militia, in light of the continued sectarianism of educational curricula and the mobilization of the youth with a culture of killing and societal discrimination, pointing out the necessity of quickly resolving the battle to restore the republic to rid the nation and the people of this disaster that has befallen them.