Children at displacement camps still unable to go to school

By Admin 20 Jun 2023

DMG Newsroom
20 June 2023, Sittwe

Basic education schools opened on June 1 across Arakan State, but students from displaced families are still not able to attend as schools opened at displacement camps were damaged by Cyclone Mocha when the storm made landfall on May 14.

Those schools have yet to be repaired, according to U Soe Naing, manager of the Tin Nyo displacement camp in Mrauk-U. 

“We have reported to the education department some two weeks about the conditions of the school in our camp. There is still no response, and teachers have not yet arrived either.”

There are more than 100 school-age children from kindergarten to grade 5 levels at the displacement camp, according to the camp manager.

Classrooms damaged by the storm at the War Taung displacement camp in Kyauktaw Township are also yet to be repaired. There are approximately 250 students at the camp.

“We don’t know when they will be able to go to school. We have concerns for their education,” said camp manager U Aung Hla Shwe.

The Taung Min Kalar displacement camp in Kyauktaw Township also had its school damaged by Cyclone Mocha, affecting 100 students there.

Students at displacement camps also need learning aids, according to camp managers.

Daw Ma Aye Khaing, a parent living at the Taung Min Kalar displacement camp, said: “I feel sorry that our children still can’t go to school while students elsewhere are attending school.”

DMG phone calls to the head of the Arakan State education office U Ba Htwee Sein and junta spokesman U Hla Thein went unanswered.

A total of 1,538 basic education schools were damaged by the cyclone across Arakan State, and 370 schools have been repaired, while 990 others are in the process of being repaired, the Arakan State Administration Council said on June 15.