Yemen: school at risk for 6 million kids, UNICEF
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In war-torn Yemen, the number of children dealing with the interruption of their education could reach six million, according to a report on disrupted education drafted by UNCEF. The report said that over two million children are currently not in school and two out of three teachers, or over 170,000, have not received a regular salary for the past four years. Since March 2015, there have been 231 attacks against Yemeni schools, wrote the UN agency.
"Six years on, Yemeni children's education has become one of the greatest casualties of Yemen's devastating and ongoing conflict", the organization said. "Just over two million school-age girls and boys are now out of school as poverty, conflict ad lack of opportunities disrupt education. This is double the number of out-of-school children in 2015 when the conflict started".
The report on "Education disrupted: Impact of the conflict on children's education in Yemen', looks at risks and challenges children face when out of school, and the urgent actions needed to protect them, UNICEF said.
The report highlighted that when children are not in school, the consequences are dire, both for their present and future.
Girls are forced into early marriage, in which they remain trapped in a cycle of poverty and unexpressed potential. Boys and girls are more vulnerable to being coerced into child labor and recruited into fighting.
Another four million children risk having to interrupt their education or abandon it because teachers who are not being paid are leaving their jobs to find other ways to support their families, the report said.
Children who don't complete their education - the UN agency also said - are trapped in a self-perpetuating cycle of poverty.
If children who don't go to school or those who abandoned it recently will not be supported adequately, they could never return, the report said.
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