At the height of noon, about a thousand female students head towards their temporary school in the coastal town of Dhubab (southwest of Taiz governorate), struggling with the sun’s heat that accompanies them all the way to the school. Their suffering with heat even inside overcrowded classrooms which lack air conditioning, in addition to other challenges such as the lack of female teachers and the lack of school curriculum.
Persistence on learning
For five years, Al-Hikma female students, who are distributed in the various educational stages (primary, elementary, and secondary) levels, have been determined to resume their journey to their school under these extremely harsh conditions, which are getting worse despite the cessation of confrontations in 2018 in this stricken district.
It should be noted that education is one of the sectors affected by the war, as dozens of schools were destroyed, and hundreds of teachers and students were displaced. One of these schools is Al-Hikma School for Girls (the school that includes these struggling girls, who number about a thousand student), as the school is still demolished until this moment, despite the endless demands by parents, students, and teachers to the government and concerned organizations to support the reconstruction of the school but in vein.
"Due to our passion for education, we took the open air as a place to teach, because there was no choice, and with the efforts of the volunteering female teachers at Al-Hikma School, we tried to run the educational process, hoping that the concerned authorities would pay attention to our situation and rehabilitate the school.”
Tough Options
Ali Muhammad Omar Al-Fatahi, the principal of Al-Hikma School for Girls, talked to "Khuyut" about some forms of the suffering that students face in Al-Hikma School, due to the school's destruction as a result of the conflict. He indicated that the option remains either to suspend their learning or to assign afternoon shift other than the morning for girls to learn. The People’s School for Boys was the most appropriate and closest to the girls, and this what was adopted later on, despite the girls enduring a lot of trouble, but their eagerness to complete their education prompted them to be patient and determined."
Part of the destruction of Al-Hikma School for Girls in the coastal district Dhubab - southwest of Taiz Governorate - Khuyut
Al-Fatahi added, "The challenges after the end of the conflict in the Dhubab area were not limited to rebuilding damaged schools, but also extended to other details, such as the absence of the teaching staff, and the excessive scarcity of tools and furniture, which greatly complicated the situation of the students and teachers remaining there. Therefore, we have seen some social initiatives, within the limits of ability, that have tried to get education out of this existing deficit. Among these initiatives: the initiative of 15 girls at Al-Hikma School for Girls, who volunteered to teach in the school for a small wage not exceeding 20 thousand riyals per month for each one, which is provided through a monthly subscription from students at an average of a thousand riyals per student.
Al-Fatahi continued his speech to Khuyut by saying: “For the love of education, we took the open air as a place for teaching, because there was no alternative, and with the efforts of the volunteers at Al-Hikma School, we struggled to continue the educational process, hoping that the concerned authorities would pay attention to our situation and rehabilitate the school, so that things can return to their previous state. However, at the present time, we have no choice but to teach in the afternoon shift, when students' concentration is weak when the sun heat is extremely high, or to teach outdoors in the morning shift.”
Impacts and demands
On the other hand, Sameer Abdullah, a resident of Dhubab district, points out the negative consequences that befell female students as a result of the war in general, including the fact that many of them stopped studying because their families are unable to afford school expenses, in light of the general living condition of poverty and unemployment.
Sameer, on behalf of Dhubab's parents, called on the concerned authorities to expedite the rehabilitation of Al-Hikma School for Girls in order to reduce overcrowding in the boys' school, and to save the deteriorating education due to the lack of building, and the lack of school textbooks, for which male and female students are forced to bear the costs of printing copies of books.
