Bassmati School - Yemen

In a city scarred by a decade of war, where public schools have been severely impacted, and teachers have gone unpaid for nine years, Bassmati School stands as proof that education can flourish in the hardest of circumstances. Founded in 2021 in Sana'a, Yemen, Bassmati has grown from just 19 students to 261 in four years, a testament to the profound hunger for meaningful education in a country where an entire generation has been born into conflict.

Every Bassmati student has known war. Most carry trauma from airstrikes, displacement, or loss. Yet inside this school, 21st-century learning thrives: project-based classrooms, a student-run newspaper, a working farm and organic garden, a solar-powered campus, and Yemen's first fully digitalised, paperless school administration. Led by an entirely female senior management team, Bassmati combines Yemeni cultural values with international best practice.

The school's response to adversity has been one of extraordinary innovation. When Yemen's academic year was slashed to seven months, Bassmati extended its school day, added optional afternoon clubs, and built a proprietary curriculum-mapping tool to protect the depth of learning. When qualified teachers couldn't be found, the school built its own internal training system, now led by Yemen's only active certified TKT trainer, and plans to launch a Teacher Training Academy in 2026 to support other schools. When airstrikes threatened campus safety, leadership installed blast-protection film on all windows, created designated safe zones, and trained every staff member in emergency protocols. Attendance held at 98% during peak airstrikes in 2025.

The results are striking. Ministry of Education inspectors awarded Bassmati a perfect score of 80/80 in January 2026, rating the school "Excellent." Seventy-five per cent of students meet grade-level benchmarks; 90% of intensive English learners have shown significant improvement. Meanwhile, grade 6 and 7 students’ scores 91% on average in Ministry exams. Teacher retention has increased 133% in a single year. Bassmati is the only school in Yemen to actively embrace neurodiversity, supporting students with autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and giftedness — and the only school with a strict healthy food policy. Sixty-eight per cent of students receive fee subsidies.

But the real measure of Bassmati is human. When seven students had their homes damaged in airstrikes in September 2025, they stood before their classmates the next morning to share their stories and were met with hugs, applause, and a "Bravery Award." A mother who cried every night worrying her daughter with albinism would be bullied, found, instead, a school where "bullying is not allowed." A teacher who arrived "full of fear and self-doubt" rediscovered her love for learning.

Built on the belief that children in crisis can still learn, heal, and lead, Bassmati is not just a school — it is a blueprint for educational renewal across Yemen. Its founders believe what they have built in Sana'a can light the way for schools across the country, and beyond.