Dilapidated school in Myebon Twsp village needs major rebuild

By Admin 20 Feb 2023

DMG Newsroom
20 February 2023, Myebon

A post-primary school in Lithun Village, part of Arakan State’s Myebon Township, is in a dire state of disrepair and needs to be rebuilt.

The headmaster and local villagers submitted a request to the township education officer in 2018 seeking to have the school repaired, but nothing has been done to date, according to the villagers.

“We would like everyone to help us to get a new school building for the young generation of our village. I would also like to ask the concerned people to help us build a new school building quickly,” said U Maung Thein, a village elder.

A post-primary school in Lithun Village has an enrolment of about 70 students from elementary to middle school ages, and seven teachers.

The school was built by the villagers on a self-reliant basis in 2011, and it was elevated to a post-primary school in 2014. Some parts of the school were already showing significant signs of dilapidation by 2016.

The school was built of bamboo, and students had to move out of the school and study in a construction site building in the village during the 2022 academic year due to the danger posed by the increasingly structurally unsound school building.

“We have a lot of difficulties in terms of teaching because we have to study somewhere else instead of in the classroom. The previous classroom was completely destroyed, so it was no longer convenient for us. I want to have a good classroom for the students’ future,” Daw Nwe Ni Khin, a junior assistant teacher, told DMG.

She added that the school building that is currently in use has only requested assistance for one year, and the classroom for the next academic year is not yet certain, so she wants the Department of Education to help build a new school as soon as possible.

When DMG contacted U Aung Gyi, the township education officer, he said: “We have submitted a budget proposal for building a new school in Lithun Village to the department on a prioritised basis. I think the proposal will be approved this fiscal year.”

Parents are worried about their children’s education as they will have to go to a school in Sanyin Village, which is about five miles away from the village, if they do not get a new school next year.

“For a long time, the teachers and principal of the school, together with the villagers, have been trying to get this school. We want to promote children’s education. With these difficulties, the education of the students is unimaginable,” said U Maung Chan Thar, a parent of one student.

Lithun Village is located near the Sittwe-Yangon road, hosting 135 households and a population of more than 500 people.