Bara'a Dabwan, a student at Ammran University, who is studying in the Department of Cybersecurity, in the second level, had an important opportunity to continue her university education in spite of the surrounding conservative society that imposes broad restrictions on everything related to women, their education, and their lifestyle.
Dabwan confirmed in a statement to Khuyut that she is very happy to be allowed to resume her university education, as she was helped by being living with her family in the city of Ammran close to the university, otherwise she may be unable to enroll at any university outside Ammran Governorate.
Girls in Ammran Governorate (north of Sanaa) are trying to break the restrictions of society, customs and traditions, and enroll in university education in all specializations, whether at Ammran University or at any private college within the governorate.
In fact, social restrictions on females are more prominent in rural areas and villages remote from cities, and constraints may lead to preventing girls to join basic and secondary education, let alone higher education and university.
However, it has been recently noted that the enrollment rate in colleges and universities has decreased dramatically, whether in private or government colleges, due to the challenging economic and living conditions that many residents of Ammran are experiencing, like other people of all Yemeni governorates. As a result, most university students resort to registering and study at home then only show up at the time of exams. The professor at Ammran University, Dr. Al-Rahbi, attributes the decreasing rate to another factor; the ongoing conflict as hundreds of young people have been involved in the fighting fronts.
The female students of Ammran Governorate, who are distributed among twenty districts throughout the governorate, with an area of about (7,911) square kilometers, no longer need to go through the trouble of traveling to continue their university education in the capital, Sana’a, or any other governorate. Thanks to the availability of Ammran University and private colleges in the governorate including those admitting only female students.
“We have an excellent educational staff, coming daily from the capital Sanaa, as well as the curriculum that we study, in addition to the availability of all specializations that are available in other universities throughout Yemen. Therefore, we no longer have to go through the trouble of traveling to the capital in order to continue our university education as it was the case before the opening of universities in Ammran Governorate.” Dabwan said.
Amran Governorate is located to the north of the capital, Sana'a, and is approximately 50 kilometers away from it. It is bordered to the north by Sa'ada Governorate, to the south by Sana'a Governorate, and to the west by Hajah and Al Mahweet Governorates, while Al-Jawf Governorate is located to the east of Ammran. The population of Ammran Governorate is estimated at approximately 877,786 people, according to the old statistics of the General Census of Population, Housing, and Establishments for the year 2004.
Gender Specializations and fluctuations in enrollment
Most of the governorate's female students seem to be determined to complete their higher education and achieving their dreams of studying despite various obstacles. Arwa Mohammad, a resident of Ammran, who currently works as a nurse at Ammran Maternal and Childhood Hospital, did not feel despair over the many challenges she faced to continue her university leaning.
Arwa told Khuyut: “Before my marriage, I lived in a village far from the city of Ammran, where the university and college headquarters are located. At that time, my family did not allow me to join the medical college, and I was very upset about that, as I had always greatly wanted to be a doctor.”
Fortunately, after her marriage, Arwa could move to the city of Ammran, which allowed her to continue her education and attend university. Thanks to her husband’s understanding and support for her to endure her university learning, after which she joined labor market in a medical facility in the city of Ammran.
Female students are more into joining private colleges affiliated with the Ministry of Technical Education and Vocational Training than males. According to an academic official at the Land of Sheba College of Health and Technical Sciences.
Mona Al-Absi, a mathematics lecturer in the Department of Civil Engineering and Computer Departments, told Khuyut: “The demand for engineering specializations among female students is very low, due to the lack of social awareness of the importance of girls engaging in engineering field due to the prevailing conception that these fields are exclusive to males.” She said.
Moreover, Al-Absi noted that there are challenges facing college students in general, and female students in particular, represented by the far distance for those who live in the countryside in the governorate, and the lack of unceasing means of transportation, as the university is located in an isolated area and the transport costs to reach colleges are high.
Dr. Abdullah Al-Rahbi, a professor at Ammran University, for his part, confirmed to “Khuyut” that although Ammran University and its college receive large numbers of students every year in all specializations, in the general and parallel systems, as the number of students enrolled in the university reached 10,919 male and female students, according to the university’s official website for the year 2023, the demand for female students in the Engineering Department remains very poor. On the other hand, the demand of female students for the College of Medicine is increasing because they tend to go to the medical departments more, and also because the college is located in the center of the city. “Most departments in the College of Education were closed due to lack of student interest, with the exception of only two departments; Biology and English language, with a very low turnout.” Al-Rahbi added.
Despite the tireless attempts and determination of adult female students in Ammran Governorate to obtain their right to university education, societal restrictions and tribal customs are still very prominent, especially in the rural areas.
Enrollment rates at colleges and universities have recently decreased significantly, whether in private or public colleges due to the challenging economic and living conditions that many residents of Ammran are experiencing, like other people of all Yemeni governorates. As a result, most university students resort to registering and study at home then only show up at the time of exams. The professor at Ammran University, Dr. Al-Rahbi, attributes the decreasing rate to another factor; the ongoing conflict as hundreds of young people have been involved in the fighting fronts.
Following the decline of the enrollment rates in the Faculties of Medicine and Engineering at Ammran University among male and female students in the governorate, students from other governorates (such as: Al-Jawf, Hajjah, Sa'ada, Sana’a, Al-Dhale’, and Taiz) were quick size such opportunity to fill in those vacant seats, especially in the College of Medicine, in which seats are limited in other universities, such as the University of Sanaa and Taiz.
Nasser Khaled, from Al-Dhalea Governorate and one of the students of the Department of Human Medicine in Ammran Governorate, told Khuyut: “I wanted to study human medicine, but I had no chance in enrolling in the College of Medicine, whether in Sana’a or Aden Governorates. Because I did not have enough money to enroll in a medical college at a private university, I resorted to registering at Ammran University, and was accepted into the public system. I was happy with that, and that's why I decided to settle in the governorate to complete my studies". Khalid Said.
Social Challenges
In this context, citizen Abdul Qawi Ali (a pseudonym), from the Khamer area of Ammran Governorate, told “Khuyut” that he was subjected to harassment from some community members in his village, because of allowing his daughters to complete their higher education at Ammran university. He was also subjected to taunts, contempt, and ridicule, but that did not deter him from his goal of enrolling them in the university so that they were admitted in the Faculty of Medicine, specializing in (internal medicine) and (anesthesia).
In turn, the social activist and journalist in Ammran Governorate, Ahmed Masood, explained in his interview with “Khuyut” that despite the tireless attempts and determination of adult female students in Ammran Governorate to obtain their right to university education, societal restrictions and tribal customs are still very prominent, especially in the rural areas.
Masood attributes this to several reasons; The most prominent of which is the prevailing culture of discrimination in tribal and rural society, which sees women only as housewives, in addition to the difficulty of moving from the countryside to the city, where the university is located, and the inability of the family to provide housing costs for their female students in the Ammran city close to the university.
In addition, the economic burdens left by war, conflict, and the current political crises in Yemen, represent a major challenge in front of families who were forced to abandon the idea of university education for their daughters, let alone the prevailing tribal customs that views girls’ education from a outdated perspective, especially in the countryside as well as the far distance between their residence and the city.
Education and administrative division
Nineteen years since the establishment of Ammran University, while it is the only university available in the governorate, with five colleges and 26 academic departments. The university includes colleges and centers, such as the College of Education, Applied Sciences and Arts, the College of Commerce and Economics in Khamer, and the College of Business.
It is worth mentioning that are also some private colleges in Ammran Governorate, in addition to Ammran University. Four of them are in the governorate center in the city of Ammran, and another is in the city of Khamer. All of these colleges have medical specializations (laboratories, obstetrics, nursing, and physician assistant).
Further, it is worth noting that Ammran Governorate is one of the Yemeni governorates that was created after the declaration of Yemeni unity in 1990, and it is about (50) kilometers away from the capital, Sana’a. The governorate’s population constitutes (4.5%) of the total population of the Republic of Yemen, while it is administratively divided into (20) districts, while agriculture is one of the key activities practiced by the residents of the governorate.
In terms of education in general, the number of damaged schools as a result of the war in Ammran Governorate is about 32 schools. As for teachers, Ammran is one of the northern governorates where public salaries are not paid to teachers. Consequently, the educational process today depends on a sort of community denotation, where each student pays a monthly fee to cover part of the essential expenses to continue the educational process in many schools. On the other hand, UNICEF and the Social Fund for Development contributed to the rehabilitation of some partially destroyed schools, and UNICEF also provided a number of large tents to some areas where public schools were completely destroyed to be used as temporarily shelter for learning.
