Over 1,000 schools closed in Arakan State

By Admin 23 Nov 2023

DMG Newsroom
23 November 2023, Sittwe

Despite the ongoing fighting, Myanmar’s military regime has not yet officially ordered closure of basic education schools in Arakan State. But around 1,200 schools have been closed in the state as students shun classrooms.

The Education Department in Naypyitaw has instructed the Arakan State Education Office to keep schools open in the state, but students are not showing up, said U Ba Htwee Sein, head of the Arakan State Education Office.

“We have received an instruction to keep schools open in every township. But children are not coming to schools because of fear for their safety. Some children go to school. We have instructed school principals to make sure teachers are at the schools,” U Ba Htwee Sein told DMG.

Around 1,200 schools have been closed in 10 townships — Sittwe, Pauktaw, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Ponnagyun, Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Maungdaw, Minbya and Myebon — in northern Arakan State where fighting is taking place.

There are a total of over 1,800 basic education schools in those townships, and only around 650 of them are currently open with students learning.

Parents are not sending their children to schools for fear of their safety, said residents.

All the schools have been closed in Pauktaw Township, which is experiencing fierce fighting. Many residents in Pauktaw town and on its outskirts have been forced to flee their homes.

The father of a student in Pauktaw town said: “All the locals from the town and villages on the outskirts of the town have fled. So, all the schools are closed. We don’t even know when we will be able to return to our town.”

The Arakan State capital Sittwe, the seat of the junta administration in Arakan State, has not yet experienced fighting. But a police battalion in the town has been firing artillery shells day and night, and only a few students are going to schools as a result, said a schoolteacher.

“Schools are open in Sittwe. But only a few students go to school. Some students from the countryside have been taken back by their parents. Students have concerns because of artillery strikes,” said the schoolteacher.

The regime is also barring people from entering or leaving towns in southern Arakan State. So parents are not sending their children to school.

“Schools are open in Thandwe. But there are no children. Parents have concerns and they are not sending their children to school. We don’t know how long the fighting will last. If children can’t go to school safely, it will affect their learning in the long run,” said a Thandwe resident.

Over 534,700 students are registered for basic education schools in Arakan State in the academic year 2023-24, according to data from the Arakan State Education Office.

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced from their homes since the renewed fighting broke out on November 13.