Back to work, not school: Yemen’s crisis forces children to drop out
News Source
•Wed, 09 Sep 2026 17:57:37 +0000
📰 What Happened
Hasnaa Jaber is 11 years old and lives in Taiz, Yemen. While children at a nearby school prepared for their break, she walked through empty farmland collecting plastic bottles. She sells them for recycling to help her family survive.
Hasnaa studied only until the third grade. She dropped out along with her two older brothers to help their father earn money. Her dream is to become a teacher, but the new school year started without her.
UNICEF says 3.2 million children are out of school in Yemen this year. In 2015, the first year of the war, that number was 1.8 million. Only one of Hasnaa's four siblings still attends school.
🔍 The Backstory
Yemen's war has now lasted more than ten years. It has destroyed homes, hospitals and schools across the country. Millions of families have been forced to leave their towns and now live in informal camps.
When parents cannot earn enough money, children often go to work instead of class. Some collect scrap, others sell goods or take farm jobs. The longer children stay out of school, the harder it is for them to ever return and learn.
🎯 Why It Matters
An entire generation of Yemeni children is growing up without classrooms. Without education, they face a future of poverty and lost chances. Getting them back to school is one of the cheapest ways to rebuild the country.
Hasnaa Jaber is 11 years old and lives in Taiz, Yemen. While children at a nearby school prepared for their break, she walked through empty farmland collecting plastic bottles. She sells them for recycling to help her family survive.
Hasnaa studied only until the third grade. She dropped out along with her two older brothers to help their father earn money. Her dream is to become a teacher, but the new school year started without her.
UNICEF says 3.2 million children are out of school in Yemen this year. In 2015, the first year of the war, that number was 1.8 million. Only one of Hasnaa's four siblings still attends school.
Yemen's war has now lasted more than ten years. It has destroyed homes, hospitals and schools across the country. Millions of families have been forced to leave their towns and now live in informal camps.
When parents cannot earn enough money, children often go to work instead of class. Some collect scrap, others sell goods or take farm jobs. The longer children stay out of school, the harder it is for them to ever return and learn.
An entire generation of Yemeni children is growing up without classrooms. Without education, they face a future of poverty and lost chances. Getting them back to school is one of the cheapest ways to rebuild the country.