75 percent of damaged schools open on June 1 in Arakan State

By Admin 31 May 2023

DMG Newsroom
31 May 2023, Sittwe

Despite the fact that basic education schools were destroyed or damaged by Cyclone Mocha in Arakan State, schools will be opened as usual on June 1, and over 329,000 students have enrolled.

A total of 329,129 students have enrolled at public schools and private schools in Arakan State for 2023-24 academic year as of May 30, according to junta-controlled newspapers.

However, schools in most of the storm-hit rural parts of Arakan State are yet to be repaired, said residents.

In Rathedaung Township, the education office is reportedly providing tarpaulin sheets for schools, but Daw Khin Khin Hla, headmistress of a post-primary school in Cheinkali village said her school has not yet received tarpaulin sheets.

“I don’t know yet if we will get tarpaulin sheets. Other schools have also requested for tarpaulin sheets. Even if the sheets arrive today, I can’t open the school tomorrow. I have to ask villagers to help fix the roofing,” the headmistress told DMG on Wednesday (May 31).

Though schools in the rest of the country are scheduled to open on June 1, schools are divided into two groups in Arakan—some will be opened on June 1, and some are scheduled to be opened in the third week of June, according to the regime.

A total of 2,410 schools, which account for 75 percent of damaged schools, will be opened on June 1, said the regime on May 27. The rest will be opened by the third week of June.

Despite the fact that schools are being repaired, it is impossible to teach all the students at the same time, said a teacher from Sittwe who asked for anonymity.

“My school will open on June 1. All the classrooms were damaged in the storm. Though they are being repaired, the repairs can’t be finished by June 1. So, we plan to teach middle school students in the morning and high school students at noon,” she said.

Makeshift classrooms will be built in schools that were badly damaged, deputy director Dr Tun Tun Thein of Arakan State education office told DMG.

Parents are concerned about the safety of their children. “I have enrolled my daughter. I will not send her to the school on June 1. I will send her only after the school is properly repaired,” said Daw Ma Htay Haty of Mingan ward in Sittwe.

Many basic education schools in Sittwe, Rathedaung, Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Pauktaw, Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships were destroyed or damaged by the cyclone on May 14.

There are a total of 3,193 basic education schools—487 high schools, 1,171 middle and post-primary schools, and 1,535 primary schools.