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YEMEN

BASIC DATA
Official Country Name:	Republic of Yemen
Region:	Middle East
Population:	17,479,206
Language(s):	Arabic
Literacy Rate:	38%
Academic Year:	August-June
Compulsory Schooling:	9 years
Public Expenditure on Education:	7.0%
Educational Enrollment:	Primary: 2,699,788
	Secondary: 354,288
	Higher: 65,675
Educational Enrollment Rate:	Primary: 70%
	Secondary: 34%
	Higher: 4%
Teachers:	Primary: 90,478
Female Enrollment Rate:	Primary: 40%
	Secondary: 14%
	Higher: 1%

HISTORY & BACKGROUND

The Republic of Yemen (hereafter, Yemen) was formed on 22 May 1990 with the merger of the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR, or North Yemen) and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY, or South Yemen). The YAR, an Imamate (or kingdom), which had been under Ottoman rule until it achieved independence after World War I, was very insular and retained much of its traditional lifestyle and social structure until the 1980s. It became a republic after a civil war from 1962 to 1970, which also saw the involvement of Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The YAR's traditional and conservative society contrasted sharply with the PDRY, which gradually became a British protectorate after the capture of Aden in 1843 and after the British left in 1967, adopted Marxism as its political system after declaring independence. The merger of the two very different countries can be traced to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the economic pressures of the late 1980s, as well as to an informal shared sense of ethnicity and nationhood among the people of both countries. A short but difficult civil war was fought for several weeks in 1994, largely along YAR-PDRY lines and led by elites of each side, over the issues of political power in the unified state and the disbursement of public funds and wealth from newlydiscovered oil fields.

Yemen is located in the southwestern corner of the Arabian peninsula; its Arabic name al-yaman, is derived from the old term al-yamanan meaning "south"(of Mecca, the center of the Islamic religion). Modern Yemen shares a border with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the north, the Sultanate of Oman to the east, the Red Sea to the west, and the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea to the south. The country includes the island of Suqutra in the Arabian Sea and several small islands in the Red Sea.

Yemen is 532,000 square kilometers in size. The western and northern parts of the country (the former YAR) are very mountainous, apart from thin stretches of coastline, with the highest peak reaching more than 3,600 meters and a number of peaks over 3,000 meters. The sandy western coastline (the Tihama) is extremely hot and humid. To the east in the former PDRY are more mountains, which descend into a rocky plain in the central east part of the country before merging into one of the most inhospitable deserts in the world, the rub' alkhali ("Empty Quarter"). There are patches of relatively fertile valleys in the east as well.

The Yemeni people are mostly Arabic by descent, although some remote tribes have their own languages and cultures that set them apart. The country's proximity to Africa and its position on sea routes to and from India and Africa has provided it with a diverse cultural mix; its foods and architecture, for example, are distinctly separate from neighboring Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia. The country's population is around 15.4 million, according to a 1994 census, about three-quarters of which are located in the former YAR. The people are predominantly rural; they often live in small villages or hamlets and usually identify with a larger tribal group, although the urban population is rising steadily. There are sizeable Yemeni communities overseas, including in the Middle East, Britain, and the United States.

Modern Yemen is a very poor country, with GDP per capita of US$750 in 1999. The country has few export industries of note apart from oil, although there is potential in light manufacturing, shipping, and tourism. Very low inward investment, limited mostly to the oil sector, is a result of poor infrastructure and perceived political instability. In 1996 the Government began a series of International Monetary Fund (IMF)-sponsored economic reforms, which continue to the present time.

CONSTITUTIONAL & LEGAL FOUNDATIONS

The highest foundation for education in Yemen is the Constitution (Constitution of the Republic of Yemen, 1994), which includes several references to the obligations of the Government and its citizens in regard to education.

Article 32 of the Constitution provides that:

Education, health, and social services are the basic pillars for building and developing the society. Society shall with the state take part in providing them.

The role of the Government in this respect is spelled out further in Article 53:

Education is a right for all citizens. The state shall guarantee education in accordance with the law through building various schools and cultural and educational institutions. Basic education is obligatory. The state shall do its best to obliterate illiteracy and give special care to expanding technical and vocational education. . . .

This has generally been assumed to require the Government to provide a fair and equitable access to education for the country's population. Despite this, perhaps because of some vagueness and generalization in its wording, the Government's performance has been mixed. In fact, results have been quite poor in certain cases such as countering illiteracy and guaranteeing equal access to education among both males and females. The latter, and through it the former, is a perhaps an example where traditional culture is at variance with the liberal Constitution. Nonetheless, the Constitution is very protective of the principle of education, as well as the principles of educational and academic freedom. For example, Article 27 states that:

The state shall guarantee freedom of scientific research and achievements in the fields of literature, arts and culture, which conform with the spirit and objectives of the Constitution. The state shall provide means conducive to such achievements and shall provide support and encouragement for scientific and technical invention, and artistic creation and shall protect achievements thereof.

The policy and administrative aspects of education are legalized under Laws enacted by Parliament and by Presidential Decree. The Law on Education of 1992 is the main piece of legislation, and there have been Presidential Decrees and administrative orders since then to supplement and administer the law.

EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM—OVERVIEW

The Yemen Arab Republic (YAR): The YAR was, until the 1970s, one of the most isolated countries in the world. It was also, perhaps as a result, one of the poorest and least developed. For example, until the 1960s the YAR had no paved roads, no factories or export industry, and no doctors of Yemeni nationality. This stemmed, in large part, from the limited education sector in the YAR before that time.

Prior to the 1960s, the educational system was limited primarily to religious education provided by Islamic scholars in one of many local kuttab (an Islamic school usually attached to a mosque). A kuttab could be found in all cities, major towns, and most small towns. The primary goal of religious education was to teach students, exclusively boys, the Holy book of Islam, the Qur'an (also transliterated as "Koran"). Most undertook the mammoth task of memorizing the Qur'an by heart, which requires about nine years of study. Religious study also included learning the sayings and examples of the Prophet Muhammad and reading debates by latter scholars on Islamic philosophy and jurisprudence. This form of education was very socially exclusive with only about 5 percent of young people (that is, about 10 percent of males) attending. Students usually came from elite or wealthy parentage. Most students' fathers held senior religious or bureaucratic positions or were wealthy merchants.

Only a handful of secular schools were formed during this time. Imam Yahya (1919-1948) formed a small number of schools with specific purposes: an Orphans' School, the students of which were typically trained in clerical skills; a Scientific School, which despite its title largely trained clerks for the judicial system; a teachers' college; and a military school. Despite this, secular schools remained scant. A few wealthy landowners formed modern schools at this time; the first was probably Ahmad Nu'man who, after a formal religious education, established a secular school in the 1930s at Dhubhan (near Ta'izz). Nu'man's school was the closest to date to true secular education and taught subjects such as mathematics, geography, and physical education. Nu'man found, however, that he was not popular with traditional Yemenis, who saw his school as un-Islamic and counterproductive to the moral development of young people; the Imam sent a traditional religious teacher to supervise him, and in 1937 he surrendered and moved to Egypt.

Nu'man's experiment highlighted the cultural factors that hindered secular education in the YAR during Imam Yahya's reign. Islamic knowledge, and as an extension linguistic and calligraphic skills, were valued at the expense of all others. Added to this was the use of isolation as a political strategy by Imam Yahya, who felt that isolation would protect his rule and draw disparate tribal groups closer together. It was to no avail. In 1948 members of an opposition group assassinated him, although his son Ahmad managed to claim the throne.

Little changed under Imam Ahmad (1948-1962), although he introduced some very minor steps towards opening Yemen to the outside world and to introducing a modern education system. Late in his reign, Ahmad introduced a secular school system, but not a large number of schools were established. The schools that were formed were based on 6 years of primary school and then 3 years of secondary school, typically covered the ages from about 6 to 15, and still existed for the benefit of males.

During this time, many Yemenis who sought a secular education headed to other countries, which they had been doing since before the 1930s. Under Ahmad, increasing numbers went to Egypt, Lebanon, or Europe, especially for their secondary or tertiary education.

After Ahmad's overthrow in 1962, a military government with a secular outlook took power and began to dramatically change and secularize the educational system. Egypt, which had troops and advisers in the country throughout much of the internal conflict between the republicans and royalists that occurred during the period of 1962-1970, provided considerable assistance. More than 50 schools were established, including vocational schools. New topics were taught for the first time formally, such as mathematics, English, and social and natural sciences. Also for the first time, schools for girls were established in the major cities of Sana'a, Ta'izz, and al-Baydha. The College for Radio Telecommunications and the College for Aviation were also established at this time with Egyptian instructors.

The post-revolutionary period of the 1960s also created greater educational and intellectual awareness and led to an increase in public discourse. Libraries were established and expanded along with the growth of public education. Informal associations were also established by writers, intellectuals, and the politically active, where debates and discussions were held and information and theory exchanged on topics as varied as political science, literature, religion, and even the role of women in society.

The 1970s and 1980s saw secular education expand dramatically and become more accessible. A Ministry of Education was established, after a 1963 decree by the military government, to monitor the public school system. Throughout the republic period (1962-1990), religious schools continued to operate, and a few private schools were also established. The school system included six years of primary, three years of preparatory, and three years of secondary education, followed by tertiary study at university or abroad. Primary education revolved around elementary skills, preparatory on practical and vocational skills, and secondary on one of five options: general (arts and sciences), vocational, commercial, agricultural, and teacher training.

The system was poor and heavily reliant on external aid. Only 6-8 percent of annual budgets were spent on education, but it was nonetheless a dramatic improvement and expansion from the past. While compulsory education was not enforced, the percentage of school-aged children attending school went from 12 percent in 1971 to almost 50 percent in 1981. Despite this, the number of girls at school did not increase significantly and remained around 10-15 percent. Further, the completion rate for primary school was poor at about 12 percent in the late 1970s. This meant that illiteracy rates, while slightly improved, remained remarkably high; in 1980, illiteracy was over 80 percent overall, including over 90 percent for females. By 1990, it was still high, but improved for both males and females. On the other hand, transitional rates were high for those who did complete primary school: 85 percent continued to preparatory level, 100 percent of preparatory level continued to secondary, and 78 percent then continued to tertiary study.

The first and most important step in developing the indigenous tertiary education system was the formation of the University of Sana'a in 1970, which remained the YAR's only university until it merged into the Republic of Yemen in 1990. The university was established with Kuwaiti aid and initially was small; at formation, it had only 61 students and 15 staff in three colleges (of law, science and arts). The university was headed by the Minister of Education as University President and included a Secretary-General in charge of day-to-day operations. In the late 1970s the school added colleges of economics and education. The university grew to number over 5,000 students in the late 1980s. Government scholarships were created along with the university to help students study abroad for degrees that were not available at the University of Sana'a.

During the YAR's republic era, there also remained a strong informal education sector, mostly teaching trades and basic literacy. At-work training, for example in clerical and administrative and managerial skills, was also common.

The Aden Protectorate (pre-1967) & the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY, 1967-1990): The British invested little into their protectorate of Aden and, at least prior to World War II, there was limited access to education. In fact, until 1937, the British ruled the area from India in an openly aloof way. The primary interests of the British were in controlling the port of Aden and having a territory from which they could watch and control maritime traffic in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, especially so as to protect the far more important asset of India.

In the 1930s, there were about 1,000 students enrolled in public schools and another 2,000 or less in private education or tutoring. This figure emphasizes the educational opportunities available to local Yemenis, as it includes a sizeable proportion of expatriates from both Britain and India. The latter was a key criticism of nationalists at the time who did not fail to notice the lack of educational opportunities available, the fact that education went primarily to foreigners, nor indeed that most teachers were foreigners, usually from India. One famous nationalist quote at the time cried, "Where are the Arab teachers?"

Little changed during and after World War II, even though war had brought an economic boom to Aden and had dramatically increased its wealth, population, and influence. The population rise was attributable more to a rise in the number of foreigners than to internal migration. There was a structured public education system, but the chief beneficiaries were those at secondary and tertiary levels or those who could access the English language training that became essential for local Adeni elites. In 1943 the British Council introduced English lessons for both men and women. For young people from elite backgrounds and a secondary education, places were available at the United Kingdom's best universities. Most of these people came from, and went into, public administration, rather than business, reflecting not only what was seen as prestigious, but also the education that was received.

Informally, as in the YAR, there was a rise in the level of political awareness and activity of intellectuals during the 1950s and early 1960s. Clubs were formed among the interested cultural elite, many of which not only served as civil groupings, but also promoted the use of Arabic in everyday life and the education system.

The reliance on foreign teachers under the British left South Yemen in a difficult situation after they claimed their independence in 1967. Education was dramatically expanded and access to it greatly widened after that time. Immediately after the removal of the British, the PDRY education system was expanded, nationalized, and Arabized. The cycle was a six-three-three system, not dissimilar in basic structure to the YAR or most other Arab countries. In 1975, this structure was changed to two-eight-four: two years of kindergarten, eight years of basic schooling (effectively covering primary and preparatory or lower secondary), and four years of secondary. The secondary level was in fact quite flexible with alternative options such as a two-year vocational program or a five-year specialized secondary program.

Education was not compulsory, but attendance was substantial and widespread in marked contrast to earlier periods. Girls were under-represented in education with female primary school enrollment at about 20 to 25 percent in the 1970s and growing to about 35 to 40 percent in the 1980s.

The education system was completely free at all levels with children given free textbooks and transport. In rural areas without a school, students were also given free board. At university level, students were also given a monthly stipend equivalent to about half the average salary.

The higher education level consisted of only one university, the University of Aden, opened in 1975. Six faculties were established in agriculture, law, economics, education, technology, and medicine. Some students also studied abroad, mostly in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, but also in other Arab countries. Other higher education was provided through teachers' training institutes, which supplemented teacher training at the University of Aden. Teaching institute graduates could teach immediately at lower levels (that is, primary school) with the College of Education providing further training for teaching at secondary level. The Ministry of Education also provided training. In both cases, practical experience was included in the curriculum.

Adult illiteracy was a problem in the PDRY as in the YAR, mostly as a result of the lack of education prior to the late 1960s. This was tackled aggressively, however, through countrywide programs. In 1985, for example, the summer break was extended for three extra months to a total of almost six months duration, during which time all adults, men and women and throughout the country, were given the chance to have basic language and literacy training, as well as basic education in other areas such as mathematics.

Unification (1990) & the Republic of Yemen: The unification of the YAR and PDRY in 1990 stemmed from several sources, including both economic pressures and a shared sense of identity between the two peoples. In a sense, although the two states were completely ideologically and administratively different—one tribal and traditional, the other Marxist—the merging of their educational systems was not complex. Sadly, this was partly because both countries had poor levels of education, and suffered from the same problems in trying to develop their education systems. These problems included a lack of financial resources and limited teacher skills, as well as a poor infrastructure that disadvantaged rural areas. To some extent, though more in the YAR, there was a bias, both formal and social, towards the education of males over females, which was made all the worse by high population growth and thus overcrowding in most schools.

The main changes made after unification were the standardization of texts and curricula, as well as a slight restructuring of the education cycle. The new system was structured as nine years of basic education, followed by three years of secondary education. These changes were made difficult by the challenges at the time, including Yemen's international isolation after it was perceived as being pro-Iraqi during the Gulf crisis and Gulf War of 1990-91, not to mention the long-standing problems of poverty and poor economic infrastructure.

The education system that was adopted in Yemen after unification in 1990 was essentially a blend and merger of the systems of the YAR and PDRY with some small changes. The education cycle consists of nine years of primary education, followed by three years of study at secondary level. The usual age to commence education is six years, meaning that students generally enroll in primary school from ages 6 to 14 and then secondary school from 15 to 17. Primary education is, in theory, compulsory, although access for rural areas and females remains a problem and a large number of students still do not complete primary school.

Religious schools remain important and numerous, especially in the north (the former-YAR) where geographic isolation often means limited government and official reach and a mistrust, especially in tribal areas, of centralized, secular government. In urban areas, there has also been in increase in the number of private secular schools.

Higher education in Yemen has grown rapidly in recent years from a handful of universities at the time of unification to seven government universities and eight private ones at present.

Overall expenditure on education in Yemen has risen slightly in recent years. In 1996, total educational expenditure represented 3.6 percent of GDP, which was 23.5 percent of total public expenditure. As a percentage of GDP, the figure is expected to have risen after the economic growth of the late 1990s, although there are conflicting indications that, as the government seeks to reduce costs and its role in the economy, the total figure may actually have declined.

The academic year runs from September to June. Students have an extended summer break of almost three months, as well as shorter breaks for major Islamic and secular holidays.

The language of instruction at primary and secondary levels is Arabic, where students interact in colloquial Yemeni Arabic, but also study more formal Modern Standard Arabic, which is the medium of communication in formal settings such as newspapers, the law, formal political speeches, and international contexts with other Arabic speakers. English is used as the language of instruction in some technical areas at university level, where the most appropriate texts and journals are in English. This includes disciplines such as medicine and natural sciences. English has also become the most common second language studied by students.

Enrollment ratios demonstrate the fact that access to education remains a problem in Yemen, especially for females but also for students in remote areas. In 1996, the enrollment ratio for both sexes was 70 percent in primary level, 34 percent in secondary level, and 4 percent in tertiary level. By gender the figures were: primary, 100 percent for males and 40 percent for females; secondary, 53 percent for males and 14 percent for females; and tertiary, 7 percent for males and 1 percent for females. Female enrollment is, however, dramatically different across regions: at primary level, it is typically above 50 percent in urban areas and often less than half that number in rural areas.

The Ministry of Education oversees the education system. The Prime Minister selects the Minister for Education and must obtain the approval of the House of Representatives for the appointment. The Minister is the head of the Ministry of Education and has overall responsibility for implementing government policies and initiatives dealing with education.

In recent years, the role and relative influence of the Ministry has diminished in line with Yemen's economic liberalization program. Yemen's agreement with the International Monetary Fund for an Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility for the period 1999-2001 included a specific agreement to limit the role of the Ministry and place greater control into the hands of the private sector. Yemen agreed to establish annual per student current and capital expenditure figures, to remunerate teachers on the basis of qualifications and their willingness to relocate to rural and disadvantaged areas, to reduce the administrative costs of education, to increase education access for students from rural areas and for females, and to reduce the number of more expensive foreign teachers. These changes, which Yemen has begun to implement, will likely lead to a greater private sector role in secondary and higher education—indeed, this was already underway, with secular private schools growing in number and popularity during the 1990s—and, in a socio-economic sense based on the experience of other Arab countries with economic reform, possibly a greater metaphorical distance between the state, the professional classes, and the broader population. This said, it is also given that the Ministry will retain its broad oversight role regarding education quality, funding, and strategic and policy direction, while decentralizing the day-to-day management and administration to governorates and districts and, in some areas, to individual schools.

PREPRIMARY & PRIMARY EDUCATION

Preprimary education, in the form of kindergartens and nursery schools, is still very much fledgling. In 1993-1994, the last year for which statistics were available, there were 62 public kindergartens with 680 teachers and a total student enrollment of 11,999, of which 47 percent were females. The figure had increased slightly from 1990-1991, when there were 51 kindergartens, 665 teachers, and 10,067 students. A report in the Yemen Times in May 1998, however, pointed to a strong growth from this low base. It stated that in the single school year 1995-1996, there were 110 new Preprimary schools opened, of which 43 were government schools and 63 private. This would indicate a dramatic growth, assuming that that particular year was not an anomaly and despite the fact that the private schools figure would include some nurseries.

Nurseries are much more numerous but are very expensive and, like kindergartens, not available everywhere. Despite this, there are estimated to be about 100,000 infants attending a nursery.

Primary education is, for the majority of Yemenis, their major education experience. With the education cycle of 9 years of primary and 3 years of secondary, with primary covering the ages of 6 to about 14, the primary level covers what many other countries consider both primary and lower secondary (or junior high school). It is, in other words, the mainstream level of education before students are then accepted into various streams of secondary school in preparation for a technical or education career or for tertiary study. By the end of primary level, therefore, students are expected to have basic skills in literacy, mathematics, and other core subjects and to have demonstrated their level of scholarly aptitude.

In 1993-1994, Yemen had 11,013 primary schools throughout the country with 2,678,863 students. In 1996-1997, the figure for the number of schools was not available, although the figure for the number of students had not increased significantly (only to 2,699,788). Given the rise in education spending and the fall in current spending as a proportion of this figure over the period, resources were going to other areas such as infrastructure and secondary education.

Completion rates for primary school are not high, partly as a result of the breadth of years covered at primary level, but also as a result of the cultural attitude towards education and the education expectations of parents. The former reason means that many students satisfy their educational needs before finishing high school; those that take up unskilled work, or who work with their parents in, for example, the family shop or farm, either do not perceive the need to continue to the completion of primary level, or their parents cannot afford to have them absent from the family business. The second reason, which involves cultural ones attitudes, is a common problem, but particularly so for females. In many cases, especially in rural areas, schools are simply too far from home and transport cannot be arranged or is not affordable. Less commonly, parents may be dissatisfied with the quality of teachers or materials. In the case of girls, especially in more traditional families, the parents do not see the need for extensive education, do not trust coeducational schools or male teachers, or simply cannot afford to have all their children fully educated and choose to educate the boys before the girls.

SECONDARY EDUCATION

Secondary education is a 3-year program that typically runs from ages 15 to 17 and is similar to upper secondary or senior high school in many countries. Secondary school allows students to develop specializations in preparation for particular careers or work that requires a comparatively advanced education. The main streams include a general academic one for students wishing to go to into higher education, covering both social and natural sciences, as well as specializations in vocational areas and in preparation for teacher training.

Secondary school enrollments increased dramatically during the 1990s, from 212,129 in 1993-1994 to 354,288 in 1996-1997 (the most recent years for which statistics are available). This latter figure included 286,405 students in general education, 52,349 in vocational training, and 15,534 in teacher training.

Completion rates at the secondary level are quite high, as a result of the large number of students who do not continue to this level and the emphasis at secondary school of preparing students for particular careers and/or for higher education. The completion rate is estimated at over 90 percent. As with other levels, females are under represented at secondary level, accounting for 71,309 students or 20 percent of total enrollments in 1996-1997 and 21 percent of enrollments in the general education stream.

A failing of secondary education in the past has been an over-emphasis on general, theoretical study in preparation for university at the expense of vocational and applied study. In the late 1990s, the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training introduced a policy to increase the emphasis placed on vocational and technical secondary education. It is too early to determine the success of this strategy, although in the past these areas of study have not been very popular with students.

HIGHER EDUCATION

Higher or tertiary education witnessed a dramatic expansion in the 1990s. In 2000, there were seven public universities and eight private ones, compared with only two public ones at unification in 1990. Further, there are a number of two year colleges, plus several postsecondary specialized education institutes.

In 1996-1997, there were 53,082 students enrolled at Yemeni universities, of which 8,224 or 13 percent were females. Academic staff in 1991-1992 totaled 1,800. In 1996-1997, the proportion of Yemeni tertiary students by field of study was 29.6 percent in social sciences, 24.3 percent in education, 10.9 percent in humanities, 10.2 percent in natural sciences, 3.9 percent in medicine and medical sciences, and 21.1 percent in other fields. The last group includes students in business studies, engineering, and law.

These figures were the latest available at the time of writing (2001) but should have increased markedly in the interim given the rise in enrollments at the University of Sana'a, the country's largest campus, as well as the growth in the number of private universities in recent years. One estimate in 1998 put the total number of university students at 170,000 with nearly half of all students being at the University of Sana'a.

While the University of Sana'a remains the largest university in Yemen, the University of Aden is also large and offers diverse courses of study. The expansion of university education began after the unification of the two Yemens in 1990. Around the mid-late-1990s, five new public universities were opened in Ta'izz, Hadramout, Ibb, Dhamar, and Hodeida. Eight private universities were also established during the 1990s.

There are also several institutions offering two-year diplomas, especially in teaching, technical, and vocational disciplines, but in comparison to universities proper, enrollments in two-year programs are low and not as popular with prospective students.

The most common issue with university education, as with secondary, is the fact that most students choose theoretical rather than applied courses. Even in applied courses, the lack of laboratory and other facilities has meant that students spend a disproportionate amount of their time on theoretical rather than practical learning making them poorly equipped when they graduate. The dramatic rise in numbers has also had a negative impact on class sizes and the general quality of tertiary education. Nonetheless, there have been improvements in recent years with a priority placed on better-equipping university libraries and with new courses and programs created in fields such as health, demography, environmental studies, and physical education.

Postgraduate and academic research in Yemen is extremely limited, including in crucial areas such as medicine, engineering, and business administration. This is due in part to the limited resources allocated to research, as well as the fact that there is virtually no culture within government or business that sees postgraduate study or research experience as a necessary step for appointment or promotion.

Figures on research expenditure are not available. Postgraduates account for 0.2 percent of the population, which, including students undertaking coursework, demonstrates a very low level of research emphasis. Yemenis studying or residing overseas are, on average, considerably better educated, although the total figure would still be minuscule.

Outside of academia, the figure is little better. The public sector undertakes some statistical research, often of good quality, although obviously it is mostly for reporting and policy purposes rather than being qualitative or original research for the purposes of inquiry or the development of new knowledge or techniques. The private sector undertakes very little research apart from a handful in the area of business trends and strategy.

ADMINISTRATION, FINANCE, & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

As mentioned, the Ministry of Education manages the public education system with some administrative and local decisions devolved to governorates, districts, and individual schools.

Government spending on education rose steadily during the 1990s as a combined result of greater focus on education, the need for improved and increased facilities as the population grew, and as increased income, especially from oil, provided some additional funds. In the early 1990s, unification brought the need for short-term higher spending to cover the costs of integrating the two education systems. Also, there had been an immediate education emergency in late 1990, almost immediately after unification of the YAR and PDRY, when almost one million Yemeni workers were expelled from the Gulf. This included about 150,000 school-aged children who suddenly flooded the education system, which in turn was financially stretched by the return of the parents who were usually unemployed.

For the most recent years available, total expenditure on education in Yemen as a percentage of Gross National Product (GNP) was 6.2 percent in 1993, 6.3 percent in 1994, 5.4 percent in 1995, 6.3 percent in 1996, and 7.0 percent in 1997. This strong growth was hampered by the civil war of 1994, after which the reconstruction process called on enormous finances to the detriment of education.

The country also suffered economic setbacks after the war. However, by 2001 spending should have reached the government's target of 8 percent or higher, although the figure is not yet available. Since the early 1990s, this spending has represented more than 20 percent of government expenditure, and, during that decade, the figure increased towards 25 percent.

Within these figures, current expenditure represented a large but falling proportion: 95.6 percent was current expenditure in 1993, 97.3 percent in 1994, 94.7 percent in 1995, 89.9 percent in 1996, and 80.1 percent in 1997. The decline may be accounted for, in part, by an increased emphasis during this time on improved public infrastructure and new education facilities.

Excessive bureaucracy in the administration of education has long been an issue. In the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, like many Arab states, both Yemens had developed a strong and influential bureaucracy to support modernization and government social initiatives; in the PDRY, a strong bureaucracy developed in line with a strong and penetrative nation-state, and in the YAR the republic era saw a strengthened bureaucracy, partly stemming from the Egyptian modernization influence in the 1960s. Recent agreements between Yemen and the IMF have included the reduction of bureaucracy and greater administrative efficiency, including in the education system, as important components.

NONFORMAL EDUCATION

There is very little information available on informal education. Formal private education has become increasingly widespread in recent years, and informal education, in terms of private tutoring and at-work learning and training, is probably also quite common. In many countries, including Yemen, deficiencies and poor quality in the public education system often leads to parents arranging for extensive tutoring for their children after-hours, which is also an important way for teachers to supplement their low incomes. At-work training is also a common method of staff development with experience usually placed above tertiary qualifications as a measure of competence, but no figures are available as to the extent or expenditure of this form on learning.

Adult education, especially in the Arabic language to counter the problem of extensive illiteracy, has long been pivotal to the governmental education policy, especially in the YAR and PDRY. In contemporary Yemen, adult education is in serious decline. Despite the on-going problem of illiteracy, enrollments in illiteracy eradication programs fell spectacularly from the peak of 631,228 students in 1990-1991 to 122,610 in 1994-1995. The main reason for this decline appears to be a failing in the quality and effectiveness of the teaching, whether real or perceived and whether in the system structure, teaching methods and quality, or student motivation. Anecdotal evidence suggests that all these are factors, that the programs are extremely bureaucratic, and, ultimately, that there is a very low success rate in achieving literacy.

TEACHING PROFESSION

According to one figure, Yemen had 85,688 teachers in 1996 across all levels, of which 79,044 were Yemeni nationals and 6,644 were non-Yemenis. This was probably a low estimate that did not include religious, private, or technical tertiary teachers. The true current (2001) figure is probably much higher, perhaps circa 120,000-125,000 plus some casual or informal teachers and private tutors. The figures (unfortunately available only for different years) for the various levels of education include the following. For preprimary education in 1993-1994, there were 680 teachers. At primary level in 1996-1997, there were 90,478 teachers, of which 17 percent were female, and a teacher to pupil ratio of 1 to 29.9. For secondary level education in 1996-1997, there were 13,787 teachers, of which 23 percent were female, and a teacher to pupil ratio of 1 to 25.7. A breakdown is not available of the teaching community for this level, although student figures, which would be similar for teaching numbers, were 81 percent in general education, 4 percent in teacher training, and 15 percent in vocational training. For tertiary level in 1991-1992, there were 1,800 teaching staff, of which 12 percent were female, and a teacher to pupil ratio of 1 to 29.5 (although this figure was from the time when there were only 2 universities rather than the current 15).

The usual mode of entry into the profession is to obtain a university degree or teaching institute qualification. Secondary education by itself has traditionally been adequate to teach at preprimary and primary levels, although this is changing and a diploma, or even a university degree, is becoming standard for any teaching position. University graduates wishing to teach at secondary level usually take a diploma from a teaching institute after studying. For older teachers who qualified without a degree or the formal qualifications typical today, the Ministry of Education runs mid-career and summer training courses to improve teacher skills. At universities, a doctorate is becoming standard for teachers in most disciplines with Yemeni nationals teaching at this level having higher degrees from a variety of places, including the United States, Europe, the former-USSR, and other Arab countries.

As a generalization, teaching, like most forms of public service, pays very poorly. As an indication, teachers earn around US$100 to $150 per month, slightly more at university level, and a little more again at senior levels such as headmaster or full professor. Furthermore, at times salaries have been paid late. To place salary levels in perspective, some example of costs (to live comfortably, but not luxuriously, with a family of five) are: rent on a small house for a family costs about US$100 to $120 per month, food for five would cost US$100 to $200 per month depending on consumption patterns, good qat (a mild stimulant chewed socially) might cost US$60 to $80 per month for one person, and utilities would cost around US$30 per month. Assets such as a car, telephone, or private education for the children are luxuries, available only to upper-income Yemenis. In other words, with total costs of US$400 to $600 to run a family of four or five comfortably, conditions are very tight without additional work such as providing private tutoring, having ideally at least two income-earners in the household, or otherwise, without owning one's house or having separate land as an income source.

In recent years, to improve the standard of education there has been an increase in teacher training, usually conducted by the Ministry of Education over the summer school holidays, as well as increases in teachers' salaries. This has met with some, albeit limited, success in improving the quality of education and the pay of teachers, but in both cases, there remain considerable problems.

SUMMARY

Many of the weaknesses and problems have been highlighted previously and include problems of equitable access for males and females and for urban and rural students, the problems introduced by poverty and very limited public funds, excessive bureaucracy, and the variance between students' preferred areas of study and the graduates that the country most needs.

There are some other general points that can be made about the education in system in Yemen. The first, which is a considerable failing but one that is common to many countries, is the overemphasis on rote learning and memorization at the expense of independent analysis. The second is the lack of materials and equipment stemming from a preference in recent years for education quantity over quality. While there has been a strong and positive attempt to provide education widely and equitably, this is perhaps better achieved at the primary level to tackle problems such as illiteracy and poor numeracy skills than at the higher education level, where more needs to be done to improve the standard of education, especially in areas important to development such as medicine, natural sciences, business administration and management, engineering, and other applied fields. Finally, a coherent plan for developing Yemen's research capabilities and for converting discoveries and inventions into applied products and methods that enhance economic development has yet to be developed and successfully implemented, although it is gradually gaining greater attention in the education debate.

Yemen has faced enormous problems in developing its education system. It is one of the poorest countries in the Middle East and the world, and its education system has faced serious problems throughout the 1990s, including those stemming from international and domestic conflict, economic austerity, and the problems from unification. In this sense, to have expanded access to education to the extent that Yemen has and to merge two different systems into one is quite an achievement. That said, however, the future is not likely to be much easier. Yemen will probably remain economically disadvantaged for many years (despite the development of oil as a source of export income), unemployment at 30 percent remains high, the need for economic reform is urgent, and population growth at 3.4 percent (1999 figure) places considerable pressure on public finances, unemployment, and education requirements.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). UNESCO Statistical Yearbook 1999. Paris: UNESCO & Bernan Press, 1999.

—Matthew Gray