Yemen’s new school year begins with an estimated 3.2 million children out of class

School resumes, but millions remain outside

Yemen’s academic year began in government-controlled areas on August 30 with an estimated 3.2 million children out of school, according to UNICEF figures reported by Al Jazeera. The number is substantially higher than the 1.8 million recorded in 2015, the first year of the current war. The fresh term has exposed how economic pressure now excludes children even where classrooms remain open.

Reporting from Taiz documented children collecting plastic bottles, washing cars or working in shops to support their households. Their families described education costs such as books, stationery, uniforms and daily transport as impossible to meet while food takes priority. These are not isolated attendance decisions: displacement, parental illness or death, scarce employment and rising living costs combine to move children permanently into informal work.

Conflict has hollowed out the education system

The 2026 Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan estimates that nearly 6.6 million children require educational assistance, including pupils still enrolled but facing serious barriers. The challenge includes damaged facilities, overcrowding, unpaid or overstretched teachers and communities hosting displaced families. Each additional dropout increases the risk of exploitation and makes a later return to formal education more difficult.

Official UN material shows that aid agencies are still trying to restore capacity. In May, the International Organization for Migration and Saudi relief agency KSrelief began rehabilitation and expansion work at 12 schools across Aden, Lahj and Taiz. That project cited more than 4.5 million children out of school nationwide and about 760,000 across those three governorates, illustrating the scale faced by targeted local interventions.

Household income is now education policy

The immediate obstacle is not simply the availability of a school building. Families interviewed in Taiz said their children’s earnings help cover basic food, and one assessment cited by Al Jazeera found that 84 percent of surveyed households could not afford elementary education expenses. Nearly one in five identified dropout cases was associated with child labour. Stable family income is therefore inseparable from any credible return-to-school strategy.

Authorities and donors will need to watch attendance as the term progresses, maintain teacher support and pair school rehabilitation with cash, food or livelihood assistance for vulnerable households. Without that wider response, reopening classrooms will not reverse the trend. Yemen risks a generation reaching adulthood with interrupted schooling, weaker employment prospects and greater exposure to recruitment, hazardous work and entrenched poverty.