New school planned for children at fire-hit Tin Nyo IDP camp

By DMG 06 May 2021

DMG Newsroom
6 May 2021, Mrauk-U 

With the houses affected by a large fire at Tin Nyo IDP camp in March having been rebuilt by donors, a new school will be built for IDP children, said the author Wai Hun Aung, who is providing help for the camp. 

“The previous school building was built with wood and bamboo. We want children to study in a better classroom,” he said. 

He added that he expected it would take about K15 million to build a proper school building for IDP children, and said up to 300 students would be able to attend. 

As many as 465 primary students attended classes at the previous school building, where the teachers were volunteers. 

U Kyaw Mya Chay, an official of Tin Nyo IDP camp, said high school and middle school students from the camp attended the Tin Nyo village school.  

He said the old school building at the camp was partially damaged by strong winds and then became a casualty of the fire on March 17. 

The blaze at Tin Nyo camp destroyed more than 600 out of its 800 houses. Replacement shelters for the affected IDPs have been built using donations from people in Myanmar and abroad. 

“All houses have been rebuilt. Wai Hun Aung’s charity group provided K80 million to rebuild 400 houses,” said the author himself. 

Other IDP camps in Arakan State are also in need of repair work as the monsoon season nears, camp managers say.