Yemen's internationally recognized government has suspended authentication of school certificates issued in areas controlled by the Houthi rebel group, impacting students seeking to study overseas. The Education Ministry, based in Aden, issued a circular in late July announcing the halt.
In early August, the ministry said it could not access official records needed to verify the documents, attributing the problem to the Houthis. The bureaucratic barrier directly affects students who completed high school in Houthi-held territories.
Bashar Mohammed, 19, finished high school last year in Sanaa, the Houthi-controlled capital. He has enrolled in English-language courses to secure a scholarship for undergraduate studies abroad. He told Al Jazeera that the suspension means his "12 years of schooling were a waste of time. This is painful." To study overseas, Yemeni students require government authentication from the Foreign Ministry, which depends on a stamp from the Education Ministry confirming certificate validity.
Ayman Ahmed, 18, a recent high school graduate from Raymah province, also under Houthi control, said students are bearing the brunt of the dispute. He characterized the invalidation as "collective punishment" and "unfair." He noted that students and their parents "are powerless, and they cannot go against the Houthis or ask Houthi authorities to coordinate with the government in Aden."
Adel al-Abadi, the government's Minister of Education, said earlier this month that the suspension does not encompass all academic years. The ministry retains access to student records for certain periods, enabling it to verify and authenticate certificates from those years.
"There are certificates for which there is no data in the ministry's records, and therefore it is difficult for us to verify their validity and accuracy," al-Abadi said.
Ahmed countered that students are not responsible for the missing data. He urged education officials in both Sanaa and Aden to coordinate and resolve the issue, saying "Our education and certificates should not be a victim of their disputes."
Yemen has been divided between the Aden-based government and the Houthi rebel group for more than a decade since the country's war began. The prolonged conflict has fragmented the nation's geography and administrative systems, including education.
