All schools now open in cyclone-ravaged Arakan State: education director

By Admin 27 Jun 2023

DMG Newsroom
27 June 2023, Sittwe

Despite the damage wrought by Cyclone Mocha last month on thousands of basic education schools in Arakan State, all schools have now been opened, according to an official from the state’s education director’s office.

Students in storm-hit townships are being taught in temporary classrooms, monasteries and homes, said U Ba Htwee Sein, the Arakan State education director.

“All schools have been opened. The school buildings that were damaged by the storm have also been gradually repaired, so the attendance rate is becoming more normal day by day. The deputy minister of education is giving instructions to repair the damaged schools,” he added.

Students in schools where there are not enough classrooms are attending school in two batches and school attendance statewide has reached more than 90 percent, U Ba Htwee Sein added.

Out of 1,358 public schools damaged or destroyed by Cyclone Mocha, which made landfall with destructive force in Arakan State on May 14, 788 schools have been repaired, according to figures released by the Arakan State education officer’s office on June 27.

Of the remainder, 660 public schools are currently being repaired and the other 90 schools will be taken care of as soon as possible thereafter.

A total of 2,410 schools in Arakan State reopened on June 1, with the remaining schools opened by the third week of this month.

Some parents were not impressed with how long it took to get their children back in the classroom.

“Children at the displacement camp began learning yesterday as teachers arrived about one month after teh school opening date. We want teachers to teach children more carefully than before,” said U Kyaw Myint Chay, the parent of a student at the Tin Nyo IDP camp in Mrauk-U Township.

There are more than 100 students at the Tin Nyo IDP camp, and teachers from the Department of Education teach children at makeshift classrooms in the displacement camp.

The roof of a school in Cheinkhali Village, Rathedaung Township, which was damaged by the storm, has been covered with tarpaulin sheets and if it rains, children will face difficulties studying, said U Tun Tin Soe, the administrator of the village.

The Arakan State education director’s office has instructed township-level education officers to conduct field inspections to ensure that there is no delay in the education of students in Arakan State, and that the matriculation examination pass rate does not decrease.

As of June 27, a total of 534,700 students had enrolled at public and private schools in Arakan State for the 2023-24 academic year. With 531,185 students attending school, the attendance rate is greater than 99 percent, according to data from the Arakan State education director’s office.