Yemen’s universities are absent from the Times Higher’s world university ranking, lagging behind their Saudi counterparts. But a group of Yemeni students have nonetheless found themselves working for the benefit of their neighbours. They offer services that include completing homework and essays, and even sitting in, long-distance, at exams. They are known as the ‘helpers’.
Ali Saleh (not his real name), a fourth-year undergraduate at the University of Sana’a, is among those who have resorted to this type of work while stuck at home amid the country’s war and the coronavirus pandemic. “I was asked to solve a physics exercise on behalf of a Saudi student. This was my first paid assignment, for a sum of 50 Saudi rials ($13). It was awarded full marks and I earned a good reputation as a provider of student services,” he said.
Saleh was subsequently hired, via a friend, by students at Jazan University in Saudi Arabia to complete a number of homework assignments in English. According to Saleh, Jazan is one of the leading sources for requests for help with assignments.
