Dozens of school-aged children from Mrauk-U displacement camp find education out of reach

03 Feb 2023

DMG Newsroom
3 February 2023, Mrauk-U

There are more than 50 school-aged children living in the Myo Oo Khaung camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Mrauk-U Township, Arakan State, of which more than 40 children lack the support needed to continue their education, according to camp officials.

IDP children had been receiving a monastic school education at the Myo Oo Khaung Monastery. But after the Arakan Army (AA) arrested the abbot of the monastery in September, the IDP children’s education was stopped because monastic school officials could not pay the teachers, according to IDPs.

“A few IDP children pursue their education by staying at their relatives’ homes,” said U Maung Maung Thein, manager of the displacement camp. “IDP children cannot be enrolled at schools in downtown Mrauk-U. It is not convenient for IDP children to go to school on foot because there are many vehicles and motorbikes along the road. There is no school in the displacement camp, so IDP children can’t get an education anymore.”

Out of a total of more than 50 students from elementary to middle school in the Myo Oo Khaung IDP camp, more than 10 students are studying at nearby relatives’ homes while the remaining 40 students are unable to continue their education due to financial difficulties.

“If a child cannot get an education, they lose a lot for their future life,” said Daw Ma Aung Myint, the mother of a student in the camp. “Mainly, I want the children to be educated. A child’s future can be different. A child who does not know how to read must be compensated in various ways when he grows up. If you don’t have an education, you have to do menial jobs. Educated people and uneducated people are different.”

A total of 796 people from 191 households are currently sheltering at the Myo Oo Khaung IDP camp in Mrauk-U Township. Most of the IDPs are from Arakan State’s Kyauktaw and Mrauk-U townships, or Chin State’s Paletwa Township, and have been displaced since early 2019.

“We can’t afford school fees and are struggling to make ends meet,” said Daw Oo Than Nwe, the mother of an IDP student in the camp. “The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has not provided relief items to us for four months. We faced financial difficulties. This is the reason why my children dropped out of school.”

When DMG phoned U Ba Htwee Sein, the Arakan State education officer, last month to find out what arrangements were being made for IDP students struggling to access an education, he said his office had not yet been informed about the educational difficulties faced by children at the Myo Oo Khaung IDP camp.

“If we know that IDP children are facing such difficulties, we must help them to make it better. The parents of the IDP children must report this difficulty to the relevant authorities,” he said.

Many women and school-aged children are among tens of thousands of civilians who have fled conflict between the Myanmar military and the AA.