Scholarship scandal in Yemen reveals corruption in ‘fragile’ educational system

Lists of names for Yemeni students who were awarded fully-funded governmental scholarships abroad over the past five years were leaked from the Ministry of Higher Education, sparking the anger of Yemenis as they included dozens of “ineligible students” who are relatives of statesmen and diplomats.

Yemenis took to social media with the hashtag “#فضيحة_كشف_المنح_اليمنية” (the scandal of lists of Yemeni scholarships), slamming the transitional Presidential Leadership Council leaders and other top officials and diplomats for giving these scholarships to their children despite their financial ability to educate them at their own expenses. Yemenis also accused them and Minister of Higher Education Khaled al-Wasabi, who belongs to the Brotherhood-affiliated Islah Party, of nepotism, corruption and depriving qualified poor students of the right to study abroad.

Some leaked documents showed, for instance, that student Osama Omar Saleh Yahya, who was chosen for the 2020 scholarship in Morocco, had been replaced with an official’s son in 2020. However, Yahya filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Higher Education for excluding him, and the court ruled that the ministry must grant Yahya a scholarship abroad.

Another leaked document allegedly showed that the daughter of the deputy military attache at the Egyptian embassy received a scholarship even though she only obtained 78% in her secondary education in 2015.

Also, the names of four grandsons of the chairman of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, were mentioned in the leaked documents. One of them was studying for a master’s degree in Canada, where two other grandsons were also granted scholarships to study business administration. The scholarship for the fourth grandson was in Malaysia.

However, Alimi’s son Mohammed, also a politician, defended his father, saying that Rashad was not aware of this issue until he was told about it a few months later.

Mohammed also added on his unverified Twitter account that his father had warned against this matter and said the Minister of Higher Education “made a trap for you.”

Government defends

Wasabi, some of whose relatives benefited from the governmental scholarships, defended himself, saying, “I have been appointed in the ministry since 2021, and all the leaked names were selected before assuming the duties.”

He added in comments to Hadith Al Massaa TV program on December 3 that those who were behind these grants were some of the diplomatic personnel at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the 2016/2017 academic year, as there was no ministry of higher education at that time, and he called for holding them accountable.

He continued that in the following academic year 2017/2018, the ministry distributed only 40% of the grants, and the rest were through embassies.

Wasabi also revealed that the ministry has applied a policy of downsizing the number of scholarships to reduce the financial allocations for overseas grants, saying that a total of 6,569 grants were awarded in the fourth quarter of 2019 with approximately $11.8 million, which means $50 million annually.

Then, for the fourth quarter of 2020, the number of benefited students reached 5,600 for $10 million per quarter, he said, continuing that the number of students was 4,900 in 2021, with a total of $8.6 million per quarter.

In the second quarter of 2022, the ministry decreased the number of students to 4,028, with a total of $7.1 million, he said, noting that about $5 million were cut in one quarter.

In response, Rashad al-Alimi directed to remove the names of all ineligible students, including any person from his family, according to a statement by the Cabinet. He also instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to list the relatives of first-degree officials appointed to senior positions in the diplomatic corps, attachés and missions in order to refer them to civil services or compatible institutions.

‘Not enough’

“The decisions taken by the government regarding this issue are unfortunately insufficient. It aimed to stem the widespread state of discontent in Yemeni society,” Yemeni journalist Nabil Salah told Jusoor Post.

He added that there are more serious measures represented in withdrawing these grants or canceling them temporarily until finding a legal solution for this issue.

Talking about the overseas scholarships for Yemenis, Salah said that they should be given to outstanding high school students for all Yemeni people, regardless of their financial situation or social status. These scholarships are granted in accordance with cultural exchange agreements between the Ministry of Higher Education and the ministries of higher education in other countries, he added.

Salah clarified also that there are other grants given by other government institutions, embassies and political parties due to their relations with other parties and institutions in other countries.

Since the officials receive their salaries in dollars, unlike the common people in Yemen, they have the ability to secure a good education for their children, who consequently could obtain high grades that may qualify them for scholarships, Salah said.

“However, the son of a poor person could not obtain a good education because education has become paid,” he added, noting that because of the war, poor Yemenis care most about their food and livelihood, while education has become a secondary matter.

The war that Yemen is going through is the main reason for a “fragile” educational system amid the absence of oversight institutions, pushing many Yemenis to apply or look for scholarships abroad, Salah said.

According to a United Nations report in July 2021, 75% of the teaching workforce, which represents more than 170,000 teachers, have not received their regular salaries for four years due to the ongoing war. In addition to this, more than 2 million children are out of schools due to poverty, war and lack of opportunities.

“A group in the ruling authority, which consists of all parties, is utilitarian and exchanges interest and mutual benefit among themselves. The issue of grants is involved in this matter,” he said, adding, “Unfortunately this is not the only corruption file that the country suffers from.”