Students suffer from lengthy blackouts as exams approach

By DMG 10 Mar 2022

DMG Newsroom
10 March 2022, Sittwe

Prolonged daily power cuts have made studying difficult for students in Arakan State as they prepare for end-of-year exams later this month.

Exams for primary, middle and high school students will be held beginning March 17, whereas the matriculation exam will be held as of March 31.

“Each power outage lasts for three to four hours. My eyesight is not good and it is not OK for me to read by candlelight. There have been frequent power outages at dawn, which is the best time to study in a day,” said Maung Kyaw Hein Soe, a student from Sittwe who will sit the matriculation examination.

Previously, blackouts only lasted for a few hours at most, and struck at regular intervals in Arakan State, according to residents. But since earlier this month, power outages strike at random, with each outage lasting approximately four hours.

Another matriculation student, Ma Myat Su, said she is worried that the power outages will negatively affect her exam results.

“We have to study according to a timetable. My studying has already fallen behind schedule because of blackouts. And power cuts also ruin my mood to study. It is not OK that blackouts are happening more often while the exam is drawing near. There can be many difficulties,” she said.

In Sittwe’s Yupa Myauk ward, blackouts hit twice a day, between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m., and between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. But irregular blackouts also strike from time to time, causing troubles for residents.

A middle school teacher from Thandwe Township who asked for anonymity said the regime should impose rolling blackouts, disconnecting households from electricity at regular intervals.

“It is not good for students if blackouts continue to happen. There is also a risk of fire if students are sleepy while studying by candlelight at night. It will be better if electricity is cut off at night, for example between midnight and 4 a.m., while people sleep. But it causes a lot of trouble when electricity is cut off in the daytime while people work,” she said.

Teacher U Thein Win from Kaung Myat Hein private school in Sittwe said studying by candlelight can make students more prone to mental and physical fatigue.

“There should be sufficient electricity before and during the exam so that students can study properly,” he said.

Businesses are also suffering from power outages, and production costs have increased significantly when businesses must be run with generators, due to rising fuel prices.

In a statement on March 5, the junta-controlled Ministry of Electricity and Energy said power supply has declined because liquefied natural gas-run power plants have halted operations due to increased gas prices, and because electricity pylons supplying electricity from one of the country’s main hydropower plants were blown up.

It also said that there will be longer power cuts next week because of planned pipework to transport gas from new gas fields.