Rekindled conflict hinders learning in Arakan State

By DMG 18 Nov 2022

DMG Newsroom
18 November 2022, Sittwe

The escalating, renewed conflict between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) in Arakan State has deprived many children of access to schooling.

Schools in conflict zones have been closed as locals continue to flee fighting, and unprovoked air and artillery strikes by the Myanmar military.

About 5,000 residents from at least eight villages in Ponnagyun Township were forced to flee their homes last week due to junta raids, and artillery and air attacks.

A parent from Ponnagyun Township’s Kywe Htoe Village said: “Teachers also fled, and they have not yet returned. We don’t know how long schools will be closed. Some villagers have arrived back in the village. Some have not yet returned. All of us live in fear.”

Schools have also been closed for some three months at approximately 10 villages in Rathedaung Township as junta artillery strikes there prompted locals to flee their homes.

“A female student was killed in an artillery strike, and the teacher and all the villagers fled out of fear. There are no teachers or students at the schools in our village. So, schools are closed,” said a resident of Pyeintaw Village.

A 13-year-old seventh grader was killed inside her home when a mortar shell struck the house in Pyeintaw Village on October 19.

The military regime has been launching artillery barrages from some 17 bases in Arakan State, in addition to conducting aerial strikes over the course of the renewed hostilities, the AA said in a statement on October 7.

Some 20 schools in at least seven Minbya Township villages have been closed for a month due to fighting and the junta’s blockading of roads and waterways, according to an educator who asked for anonymity.

“The regime has denied access to the road through Kyetsin Bridge. Teachers are also not allowed to pass,” said the teacher, who teaches at a school in Minbya.

At least 60 schools have been temporarily closed across Minbya, Kyauktaw, Rathedaung, Maungdaw and Ponnagyun townships, according to local residents and social organisations.

The respective township-level education officers have not yet reported about the closures of schools in their areas, said the head of the Arakan State Education Department, U Ba Htwe Sein.

“No township education officer has yet reported about school closures. Perhaps, they open and close schools depending on the situation in their areas,” said U Ba Htwe Sein.

Approximately five schools have been closed in Maungdaw Township due to the fighting, and displaced students have had arrangements made to learn at philanthropic monasteries in Maungdaw town, said a staffer at the township education office.

“Some four or five schools are still closed. … We have arranged for students from closed schools to study at other schools depending on where they are staying now,” he explained.

There are more than 3,000 basic education schools across Arakan State’s 17 townships, according to the state’s Education Department.