The conditions of teachers in Yemen are wosening due to the 8-year-old war, during which their salaries were cut. Additionally, tens of thousands of them were laid off. On the other hand, thousands of others were forced to join the war fronts, while the harsh conditions led some of them to commit suicide.
After all this suffering, Yemeni teachers in areas controlled by the Houthi group went on strike in an attempt to obtain their salaries and entitlements, in conjunction with the Houthi group's intention to start studies a month earlier than its usual date. The Houthi group ignored their strike and demands and instead confronted them with violations and abuses.
The Houthi group launched a campaign of arrests and threats against many teachers and union leaders who called for the strike or those who initiated its implementation and prompted its members and leaders to go to schools to force teachers to lift the strike. Furthermore, they arrest or threaten those who participate in it.
The Yemeni Teachers Club, a trade union entity, accused the Houthi group of kidnapping the club's secretary-general, Mohsen Al-Dar, on the grounds of demanding salaries.The Yemeni Teachers Club, a trade union entity, accused the Houthi group of kidnapping the club's secretary-general, Mohsen Al-Dar, on the grounds of demanding salaries.
The Houthi group threatened the striking teachers by depriving them of the inducement, which is a limited amount of money the Houthi group claims to provide to teachers in exchange for carrying out their educational tasks. The Houthis established a fund for the purpose of collecting money for teachers in the year 2019. Then it was canceled early this year by unconstitutional or legal decisions, and it was canceled due to corruption and looting of its revenue.
The majority of teachers confirm that they did not receive any inducement from this fund during the past years. Tgey add that the sums spent in the name of this inducement were given to a limited number of teachers, while the rest continued to work as forced labor without pay.