The Houthis are targeting education in northern Yemen, using schools to force their extremist ideology on young, impressionable Yemenis. 

Teachers and principals who refuse to comply with the Iran-backed terrorist group’s initiatives face arrest.

To ensure ideological conformity in teaching, the Houthis force schools to teach notebooks from the group’s founder, Hussein al Houthi. In addition to learning from sectarian textbooks, students are now required to recite Houthi slogans each day. They include the infamous scream, “God is the greatest, death to America, death to Israel, a curse upon the Jews, victory to Islam.” 

For example, in Taiz Governorate, the Houthi education office issued a document mandating that the scream be recited in a morning assembly and documented. Schools submit video evidence to Houthi authorities of students reciting the slogan.

Beyond forcing ideology into the classroom, the Houthis have also pulled students out of school and compel them to participate in the group’s marches. 

Middle and elementary school students have been required to attend these marches during a weekday, in some cases multiple times within a week. The Houthis have threatened teachers and students when children haven’t participated.

Unfortunately for vulnerable students, teachers and administrators routinely face serious repercussions if they fail to comply with Houthi directives. According to the Yemeni news site Yemen Shabab, in the week of July 27 alone, 13 “teachers, mosque imams, and other respected figures” were detained in Taiz Governorate. 

The week prior, another campaign targeted at least seven teachers and other influential individuals, most of whom were involved in education.

Additional regions in Yemen have also reported arbitrary detentions targeting educators. 

The Houthis have no legal justification for these “arrests,” and individuals are held without trial or charges. The Iran-backed terrorist group has a long history of arbitrarily detaining civilians.

The Houthis have also targeted the higher education sector. 

Fares al Hemyari, a journalist specializing in Yemen, reported that university academics and administrators have been required to attend both ideological and combat training sessions. 

The combat courses include weapons training, and the participants are required to pledge loyalty to the Houthis.

These recent efforts aren’t the first instances of the Houthis using the education system to expand their ideological reach since taking power in northern Yemen. For example, the group previously placed family members of Hussein al Houthi in leadership positions within the Ministry of Education. 

Throughout the years, the Houthis have also made numerous decisions that undermine the independence of the education systems in the territory they control. At the end of April 2025, the group decided to terminate English courses for students before fourth grade, opting instead to use that time for Quranic lessons and Arabic instruction.

The group has also attempted to reach students through annual summer camps. These camps provide another avenue for the Houthis to indoctrinate Yemeni youth, beginning at age six. Young boys also receive military training, and the group is known to recruit child soldiers, with some human rights groups reporting recruits “as young as 13.”