Houthi militias continue to disrupt the higher education sector across Yemen by introducing and enforcing sectarian academic material and dismissing opposing faculty members at universities.
Several public universities have been disturbed in Houthi-held provinces such as Sanaa, Ibb, Dhamar, Umran and Hajjah.
University students, speaking under the conditions of anonymity, revealed that Houthis have imposed a new curricula a few days ago.
The new syllabuses, according to the students, are sectarian and will impact universities negatively.
At the University of Sanaa, Houthis introduced the following courses: Military Media, Contemporary History of Yemen, The Arab-Israeli Conflict and National Education.
The new material, according to sources, has been largely imported from Iran and linked to the legacy of Hussein al-Houthi, a key Houthi military leader.
It is worth noting that campus life has also been disrupted by Houthi-placed university professors who insist that students chant some of the group’s most violent slogans in exchange for academic leniency.
The Houthis’ endgame across university campuses in Yemen is to transform them to recruitment hub for the group, local academics in Sanaa speaking under the conditions of anonymity noted.
“The militias, since their disastrous coup, have transformed universities in areas under their control from a prominent academic edifice into an arena for carrying out their activities, goals, and sectarian, religious, programs,” academics said.
Houthi practices have cost multiple universities, especially the University of Sanaa, their regional and national ranking and accreditation.
Houthis, beyond tailoring curricula, have also sought to control university boards and removing chairmen and replacing them with figures from the group’s loyalists.
Since storming Sanaa University, the group has cut about 300 academics, faculty, assistants and employees from their work and replaced them with Houthi loyalists, sources said.
