At sunrise, 12-year-old Ahmed wakes up under the roof of a tent in a displacement camp in the Wadi Bani Khawlan area of Taiz governorate’s Jabal Habashi district.
asserted
Ahmed → wake → district
He spends his days playing with other children or retreating to lie down inside the tent.
asserted
He → spend → tent
This has been his routine for the past two weeks, ever since he had to flee his village of al-Ashroh, west of the city of Taiz.
asserted
he → have → Taiz
Life in the camp is “boring”, he says.
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he → say → camp
He misses everything about his home and his village, particularly his school bag and his walk to school every morning.
asserted
He → miss → school
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“I left my school bag in the house as we fled the clashes, and I do not know if I will carry it again and go back to my classroom and meet my teachers and classmates
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I → agree → teachers
,” Ahmed told Al Jazeera.
asserted
Ahmed → tell → Jazeera
There’s no school at the displacement camp for Ahmed to attend, and even if he were back home in his village, his school there is also closed.
asserted
school → ’ → village
Across conflict-affected parts of Yemen, hundreds of schools have suspended classes, disrupting education for more than 137,000 students, according to UNICEF.
uncertain
hundreds → affect → UNICEF
The United Nations body added that more than 57,000 children had been displaced as a result of the fighting in Yemen in the first two weeks of September, a number that will likely have increased as fighting continues.
asserted
fighting → add → September
After four years of relative calm, armed clashes between pro-government forces and the Houthis intensified sharply in August and September, dealing a new blow to Yemeni schools and students and further deepening the country’s education crisis.
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clashes → intensify → crisis
Survival over education
After arriving at the displacement camp, Ahmed’s family had immediate priorities: securing shelter and meeting their basic needs.
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family → arrive → needs
“Before the war reached my house and school, my family would care if I completed my school homework,” Ahmed said.
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Ahmed → reach → homework
“Today, no one cares about education in the camp.
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one → care → camp
Families’ focus shifted to tents, food and water.”
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focus → shift → tents
Meeting those needs is a difficult task for the humanitarian groups attempting to help the displaced.
asserted
Meeting → meet → displaced
The UN said on October 2 that more than 150,000 people had been displaced by the renewed conflict, a number that is expected to rise.
asserted
that → say → number
That is on top of the more than five million Yemenis who had previously been displaced as a result of the war, which began with the Houthi takeover of Sanaa in 2014.
asserted
which → displace → 2014
Mohammed Radman, a displacement coordinator with the Executive Unit for IDP Camp Management in Jabal Habashi district, told Al Jazeera that thousands of students are displaced, and that many of them have been forced to put their education aside amid what he described as “horrific circumstances”.
asserted
he → tell → circumstances
“These students do not have options,” Radman said.
asserted
Radman → have → options
“All schools near the front lines are closed.
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schools → close → lines
And even if these students wanted to travel several kilometres every day to reach functioning schools, those schools are already crowded.
asserted
schools → want → schools
So, the displaced students cannot be accommodated.”
asserted
students → displace → ?
He divided schools in conflict-affected areas into three groups: schools being used to shelter the displaced, overcrowded schools and schools on or near the front lines.
asserted
He → divide → lines
“This creates a real challenge for society, the Yemeni government and international organisations,” he said.
asserted
he → create → society
‘Homelessness and begging await them’
asserted
Homelessness → await → them
Before the latest escalation, 3.2 million children were already out of school in Yemen, according to UNICEF.
uncertain
children → accord → UNICEF
And now, with the new and ongoing wave of displacement, the ordeal facing Yemeni children is set to worsen, said Tawfiq al-Humaidi, the president of SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties.
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Humaidi → face → Rights
“This war leaves them vulnerable to homelessness, begging, and potentially forced recruitment,” al-Humaidi said.
asserted
Humaidi → leave → homelessness
While families hope that their stay in the displacement camps will be temporary, al-Humaidi said that the disruption to education caused by displacement may last for a long time.
uncertain
disruption → hope → time
He said that prolonged stays in displacement camps can pull children into a different daily routine and make their eventual return to school more difficult.
asserted
return → say → school
“The repercussions extend beyond deprivation and the loss of educational lessons to the loss of the social and psychological protection provided by schools,” al-Humaidi said.
asserted
Humaidi → extend → schools
“When schools close, children become more vulnerable to violence, exploitation, recruitment and child labour.”
asserted
children → close → violence
Finding a way back to school
Abdulkarim, a teacher in Taiz who did not wish to give his full name, told Al Jazeera that providing education in a “war zone” is challenging.
asserted
providing → find → zone
“When students hear explosions, fear bullets and stay in shaky tents, education cannot happen.
asserted
education → hear → tents
I saw how little children cry when they hear the sounds of heavy gunfire,” he said.
asserted
he → see → gunfire
Providing students with a safe environment is the priority, Abdulkarim said.
asserted
Abdulkarim → provide → environment
“Once that is achieved, we can try to accommodate students in functioning schools or create alternative centres so that students can continue to receive education,” he added.
asserted
he → achieve → education
Afrah al-Humaiqani, a sociologist in Aden, said the recent hostilities in different parts of Yemen risk denying thousands of students access to education, which she warned could contribute to creating a “new illiterate generation” in the country.
uncertain
she → say → country
However, reducing the impact of this crisis is possible, and the Yemeni government and international organisations can cooperate and coordinate to address it, al-Humaiqani told Al Jazeera.
asserted
Humaiqani → reduce → Jazeera
…and 2 more, not listed.
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