A/HRC/45/CRP.7 3. Military use of schools, organised child recruitment in schools, and violence against educators 282. The Group of Experts notes with great concern that some parties to the conflict continue to deprive children in Yemen of the full enjoyment of their fundamental right to education, in particular through their military use of schools, the misuse of education for child recruitment and propaganda purposes, and their attacks on educators. Military use of schools 283. The Group has previously documented how some schools were used for military purposes and, in certain instances, had become military objectives as a result of that use by certain parties to the conflict.423 284. The Group verified that, in January 2020, the Government of Yemen Special Security Forces converted a secondary school in Haban district, Shabwah Governorate into a military barracks, causing dozens of students to demonstrate on 1 February against the lack of access to education. The Group also received allegations of four schools used by the Houthis for military purposes, including one used for training child recruits in Sa’ada and three others used for weapons storage and/or manufacturing in Sana’a.424 The use of education for child recruitment by the Houthis 285. Linked closely to Houthi recruitment of both boys and girls, the Group found that, as early as May 2015 and as recently as June 2020, Houthi supervisors, Ministry of Education (MoE) officials and “volunteer” educators used and manipulated education provided to children in a strategic and widespread manner as part of their child recruitment efforts in 34 schools in six governorates under their control (Sa’ada, Sana’a, Ta‘izz, Dhamar, Amran, and Raymah). Reportedly, this strategy resulted in 49 boys and nine girls being recruited.425 286. Multiple sources reported to the Group that this strategy gained particular traction after September 2017. The Government of Yemen stopped paying salaries to an estimated 108,000 teachers in nine governorates then under Houthi control, which led qualified teachers to leave schools in search of other income.426 This exodus left a gap filled by Houthi appointment of “volunteer” teachers and principals, who readily advanced Houthi efforts to indoctrinate and recruit students from schools.427 For a sense of the scale of such staffing changes, the Group received official documents reporting that, in the directorate of one governorate, by 2020, nearly 20 per cent of all educators were replaced by Houthi “volunteers.”428 287. Based on the accounts of teachers and educators, the Group found a common modus operandi for Houthi incitement to violence, child recruitment activities and propaganda in schools. Houthi Mobilisation Committees429 specifically targeted schools because of their large audiences of children, who were deemed more accepting of Houthi ideology and were potential future recruits. Activities in schools included weapons demonstrations, mandatory in-person radio and video speeches given both by Houthi leaders and students/teachers 423 See A/HRC/42/CRP.1, paras.720-721. Confidential sources on file. 425 Confidential sources and documents on file. The MRM verified 222 cases of military use of schools by the Houthis, including 21 schools used specifically for “recruitment and propaganda, as well as to train boys and girls on fighting methodologies and to assemble and dismantle weapons,” & 3 attacks on teachers/students, 1 April 2013-31 December 2019 426 Confidential sources and documents on file. Three quarters of teachers are estimated to lack salaries as of March 2018. 427 Confidential sources on file. 428 Confidential source on file. 429 Mobilisation Committees are allegedly organized at Governorate-level, chaired by the Governor and attended by all Governorate Directors of public departments, including the Director of Education. The purpose of the Committees is to continually generate high levels of new recruits from each Directorate and Municipality across the Governorate. Allegedly, Zainabiyat and detention centres also convened their own Mobilisation Committees to recruit girls and detainees. Committees reportedly viewed students as candidates for future combatants (boys) or in support/paramilitary roles (girls). 424 73