Local groups provide free education to illiterate children, elderly in remote Thandwe village

By DMG 07 Mar 2022

DMG Newsroom
7 March 2022 Thandwe

Local social organisations are providing education to illiterate children and the elderly in Ahnyit village in Thandwe Township, Arakan State, where Asho Chin people live.

Some local civil society and nongovernmental organisations (CSOs/NGOs) are building a school on a self-reliant basis to raise literacy in rural areas and implement the “Ah-Thone-Lone (3As) Movement” for school-age children and the elderly.

The local CSOs and NGOs are building a school in the village, but need help to build shelters and toilets, said Salai Kyaw Min Oo, an information officer for the Women’s Network Rakhine State (WNRS – Thandwe Township).

“We are currently providing free education to illiterate children and the elderly at a home in Anyit village. A school is under construction in the village on a self-reliant basis,” he told DMG.

The school is being jointly built by the Women’s Network Rakhine State (WNRS – Thandwe Township) and Asho Chin Literature and Cultural Committee (Thandwe Township). The groups are also providing extracurricular activities to children who are unable to attend school, and to illiterate adults.

At present, 16 children and five elderly people in Ahnyit village are being taught out-of-school lessons with a three-month summer program starting from February 16.

“There are 16 children who are unable to go to school in the village. And we will teach out-of-school lessons to illiterate elderly people,” Salai Kyaw Min Oo said.

Ahnyit village, with just over a dozen homes, is located about 15 miles from Thandwe town and is difficult to access by road, and has limited telephone and internet access.