In addition to killing at least one person in Bangladesh and knocking out hundreds of homes and government buildings in Rakhins, last week’s Cyclone Mora wrecked over 200 school buildings in hard-hit Maungdaw Township.
Of the school buildings that took a toll, around 30 have been completely destroyed, said U Khin Aung, a Maungdaw township education officer.
“A total of 217 school buildings have sustained damaged according to the list we have received on June 3,” he said. “Seventy-five percent of the buildings have been moderately damaged. The remaining 30 percent need to be rebuilt. Schools located between the mountains may have been damaged as well.”
The local schools are trying to work around the situation and keep classrooms functioning despite the havoc. Arrangements have been made at most schools to teach lessons in staggered shifts in the remaining functional buildings.
“It may take a month to repair the buildings. At the Number 1 Basic Education High School Maungdaw, five or six out of eleven buildings have been damaged. The students will have to attend school in either morning or afternoon shifts as there are not enough school buildings,” U Khin Aung said.
The storm has also damaged the roofs of student hostels in Nan Thar Taung Philanthropic School in northern Maungdaw township, which hosts over 500 students and 17 teachers.
“All the roofs of the hostels and bathrooms have been ripped off so there are difficulties with the students’ living arrangements. Teaching has been halted as the students have to sleep in the classrooms,” said U Nyar Ka, the chief abbot of Nan Thar Taung Philanthropic School.
The Maungdaw Township General Administrative Department has not yet visited the philanthropic school to report on the damages, but the Ministry of Border Affairs and the Education and Training Department have been notified about the school’s condition.
Cyclone Mora lashed Bangladesh and Rakhine State on May 29 to 30. In a June 2 statement, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said parts of central Rakhine remain at risk of landslides and collapsing riverbanks, while Maungdaw is inundated with floods following the cyclone. Refugees and internally displaced people in Bangladesh and Rakhine State were among the worst affected by the storm, which included winds surging upward of 72 miles per hour. Reuters reported that in one refugee camp across the border in Bangladesh, about 70 percent of the makeshift shelters were damaged.
Translated by Thida Linn
Edited by Laignee Barron
