Aid groups in Karenni State told DVB that nearly 600 community-run schools serving over 60,000 students — from kindergarten to high school — are in urgent need of funds to purchase textbooks.
“Some classrooms have only two sets of textbooks for the entire class. Students can share these textbooks when attending school, but schools cannot remain open all week due to fears of regime airstrikes,” Zay Yar Tun, a member of the Clean Yangon charity group now based in Karenni State, told DVB.
He added that up to five students are using one textbook at most schools. A curriculum set mandated by the regime Ministry of Education for kindergarten costs around 9,000 MMK ($2 USD), while a set for high school level can exceed 30,000 MMK ($6 USD).
DVB data records that at least 333 schools nationwide have been destroyed in regime attacks since the military coup on February 1, 2021, up to May.
Airstrikes on May 12 killed at least 22 children under age 18, and two teachers at a school run by the National Unity Government (NUG) in Depayin Township, Sagaing Region, which is located 40 miles (64 km) north of the region’s capital Monywa.
The NUG ordered all schools in areas it administers to temporarily close on May 25 until further notice as a precaution against airstrikes. It has documented that 3,043 civilians have been killed — 441 of them under the age of 18 — and 240 schools have been destroyed by 2,679 airstrikes from Jan. 1, 2023 up to May 12, 2025.
Teachers at schools operating in resistance-controlled areas of Karenni State told DVB they have to write out each lesson on the whiteboard due to a lack of funds to purchase new textbooks.
Many families have reportedly had to withdraw older children from school, as they can no longer afford the costs.
Aid groups report that ongoing fighting between regime and resistance forces since 2021 has displaced over 300,000 people in Karenni and neighbouring Shan State with roughly half this number under the age of 18.
Karenni resistance forces claim full control over six towns, including Mese on the Myanmar-Thailand border. The state capital Loikaw, Bawlakhe and Hpasawng remain under regime control.
The Tankhoe Saya Tun free education center told DVB that it needs funds to purchase education equipment, to pay teacher’s salaries, and to build 15 new schools to serve over 3,000 displaced children across Arakan State’s Ponnagyun, Rathedaung, Pauktaw, Ann and Kyauktaw townships — all of which are under Arakan Army (AA) control — this school year.
The center aimed to open 18 schools by July 3 but only acquired enough funding to open three.
“Each school will employ 20 teachers, and we aim to provide each of them with a monthly stipend of 150,000 MMK [$33 USD],” the Tankhoe Saya Tun free education center spokesperson told DVB.
Schools follow a 12 grade education curriculum developed by the Arakan National Education Department under the AA, and most displaced children have been out of school for at least two years.
The Tankhoe Saya Tun free education center told DVB that it plans to teach students at their homes until the schools are opened. It reportedly aims to operate schools at temporary shelters at Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, since children are unable to travel outside the camps to attend school.
The AA has gained control of 14 out of 17 Arakan townships, as well as Paletwa Township in southern Chinland, since it launched its most recent offensive on Nov. 13, 2023. The capital Sittwe, the port town of Kyaukphyu, and the island of Manaung remain under regime control.
Contact Clean Yangon @cleanyangon on Facebook and the Tankhoe Saya Tun free education center @PNGYA2020 on Telegram if you would like to make a donation.
