The Burmese Education Ministry has promised to supply textbooks to grade-one students free throughout the country, but in Mon State and Karen State many have to buy it.

“During the 2009-2010 academic year the government’s education ministry will provide 600,000 textbooks to grade-one students. The ministry began this project in 2001 and it will carry on till 2031. The cost of the textbooks is 157,497,100 kyat,” reported the Burmese Voice Weekly.

The education ministry has provided free textbooks, but only in certain townships in Mon State. Some villages in Mudon Township have to buy them as they did earlier, said a resident from Yaung Daung, who added that the textbooks were sometimes donated by international aid agencies, and they also had to pay obscure fees.

“We had to pay 4,500 kyat per student. However, we bought all the notebooks that [were received for free] from the Unicef. So we paid for the school textbooks, but in Hneepadaw and Kwanhla, villagers only had to give 500 kyat per registered student,” the resident added.

A source from Hpa-an Township, Karen State, said that the situation was equally inconsistent: some local schools received free textbooks, whereas others did not. “We paid 600 kyat for the textbooks but then in the primary school they also sold 12 notebooks per student so we paid a total of 3,000 kyat.”

A Mudon Township, Mon State resident noted that, although they received free textbooks in the school, they had to pay more to register than in the last academic year. The resident also mentioned that, “my son received the textbooks free but when [he] finishes school he has to give them back to the school.”

The cost of primary and secondary education and its overall shortage continues to be a salient issue inside Burma.