Four million German schoolchildren are currently not going to school! Why? They're already on summer vacation and spending the day doing lots of other exciting things. Time off is good for them - after six weeks, they will all return to class well rested.
Four million children - the same number of students - are currently not attending school. Myanmar currently not attending school. That is half of all children of school age. The reason, however, is not the vacations: These children simply do not have the opportunity to attend school. Nor is this a six-week break; the children have been unable to attend classes for more than two years, and there is currently no sign of the situation improving.
This situation already began with the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, when schools in Myanmar were completely or partially closed for 15 months in 2020. After this period, when the majority of schools in our country reopened, the military coup in Myanmar in February 2021 once again prevented school attendance. Attacks on educational institutions and teaching staff have additionally prevented students who actually have access to educational institutions from returning to their classrooms for fear of violence.
Today - more than a year after the coup - the situation has not improved at all. On the contrary, the country is in chaos, and the number of attacks, arson attacks and explosions on schools is increasing every month. In the just-begun 2022/23 school year, there were again several attacks on teachers, as well as two kidnappings. Such acts of violence naturally discourage many working in the education sector from continuing to practice their profession, which means that there are still fewer teachers. This results in an acute shortage of skilled workers, as well as inadequate premises and a lack of teaching materials. Many schools have also had to remain closed because they were destroyed by the unrest since the military coup or the buildings are being used for other purposes.
In June, the situation was exacerbated by a very strong monsoon season. Heavy, continuous rainfall led to flooding in many places and completely paralyzed roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Many children and teachers were thus cut off from school and work. In addition, more teachers are absent due to illness. This increase can be explained by the rapid spread of infectious diseases during the rainy season. There are still far too few medical staff(we reported) to cope with the currently increasing number of patients.
Humanitarian aid organizations see an acute danger for the education of this generation. Lack of education inevitably leads to a further decline in skilled workers. In order to protect the country from a catastrophic future, there are therefore calls for the UN Security Council to take immediate action.
We at Artemed Stiftung are also feeling the effects of this situation, but we are very grateful that our teams at the Irrawaddy River Doctors and at the Mother-Child Center in Bogale continue to provide medical care for those in need and are trying to train staff.
