Full Breakdown
Yemen’s War Pushes Millions of Children Out of School
9/10/2026, 1:37:00 AM
Rising Dropouts as the New School Year Begins
The academic year opened in government-controlled areas on August 30 [Al Jazeera]. Yet many families cannot send their children to class. UNICEF estimates that 3.2 million children are out of school in Yemen this year, up from 1.8 million in 2015, the war’s first year. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that 6.6 million Yemeni children need education assistance in 2026, encompassing both out-of-school youths and those facing severe learning barriers.
Personal Stories Illustrate the Hardship
- Hasnaa Jaber, an 11-year-old from an informal settlement near Taiz, left school after third grade to collect plastic bottles with her brothers. She says, “My dream is to become a teacher. I studied up to the third grade, but then I dropped out of school along with my two older brothers to help my father,” — Hasnaa and adds, “I used to work and keep my children in school, but the situation has worsened over the past two years. What I earn from washing cars is no longer enough to provide them with basic food, let alone cover other necessities,” — Hasnaa Jaber “I was left with two choices: either send my children to school and watch them starve, or ask them to help me earn a living,” — Hasnaa Jaber.
- Ahmed Abdulelah, 13, stopped attending school after his father died. He now works in a grocery store to support his siblings, stating, “My father provided us with everything we needed,” — Thirteen-year-old Ahmed.
Humanitarian Data on Child Labour and Poverty
A Save the Children assessment of roughly 2,000 households in southern and southwestern Yemen found:
- 92 % of surveyed families lack certainty about their next meal.
- 95 % rely on precarious daily informal labour for income.
- 84 % cannot afford basic school costs such as uniforms and textbooks.
- ?20 % of identified dropouts are directly linked to child labour.
Official Response and Constraints
The official stresses that once families secure stable income, children are expected to return to school.
Outlook
Humanitarian actors emphasize that restoring household food security and income is essential to reversing the dropout surge. Without a substantial improvement in economic conditions, the large cohort of out-of-school children is likely to remain, perpetuating cycles of illiteracy and poverty.
