Some 13,700 schools in Myanmar are closed due to civil war

School buildings are often targeted by indiscriminate airstrikes or shelling from artillery.

By RFA Burmese
2024.07.08

Screenshot from a July 2, 2024, RFA Burmese-language video reporting that nearly 14,000 public schools in Myanmar remain closed by the ongoing civil war.

 (RFA)

More than a quarter – or about 13,700 – of Myanmar’s 48,753 public schools have been closed due to the country’s civil war, the military junta’s Ministry of Education said.

In western Chin state, which has seen fierce fighting since the 2021 military coup d’etat, only 38 schools out of some 1,500 are still open, according to figures released by the ministry.

In neighboring Sagaing region, where the coup triggered an insurgency by members of the majority Burman community in Myanmar’s heartland, more than 4,200 schools have been closed.

Junta troops often target civilian homes and other buildings – including schools – during or after ground battles with insurgents.

“Children have suffered a lot in education,” said U Htay, a resident of Ma Taw village in Sagaing’s Mingin township. “They have lost their dream. We see that their potential to become outstanding citizens is being destroyed.”

Most schools remain open in the commercial capital of Yangon and nearby Ayeyarwady region, the ministry said.

The shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, has opened more than 4,300 schools nationwide in areas controlled by insurgent forces. NUG was formed by pro-democracy politicians and allies following the coup.

But even those schools have been targeted by the junta’s indiscriminate airstrikes, the NUG’s deputy minister for education, Sai Khine Myo Tun, told Radio Free Asia.

Intense fighting in eastern Kayah state has also put students at risk. But the Karenni state Interim Executive Council has still opened more than 400 schools there since 2021, the council said.

Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.