New Delhi (Mizzima) - Since the school in his village has not yet been repair, he is forced to leave his home to continue his education in Pathein, capital of the cyclone-hit Irrawaddy division, where the cyclone had little effect in May last year.
Aung Kaung Myat Kyaw, a boy of 17, who is now studying in the 10th standard, says he was put into a boarding school by his father, who is a businessman, owning a salt producing farm, as the school in his village has not been repaired even a year after the cyclone.
“I passed class nine in Pyin Khayine village. But since the high school in our village is still not reconstructed, my father has sent me to Pathein,” the boy said.
He said, while he is lucky to be sent to Pathein for his studies, his friends have to go to school in two batches – morning and evening – at the damaged school, as it cannot accommodate all of them.
The boy said, when Nargis lashed their village in Laputta Township of the Irrawaddy delta on May 2, last year, it destroyed their school and other houses. But he had little knowledge that his school was among the over 4,000 schools that were destroyed by the cyclone.
But after a year, the school has not been repaired and students as well as teachers are forced to use the damaged school in batches.
“There is nobody to repair the school and when we informed the local authorities, they told us to inform the education ministry and did nothing,” a local teacher in the Pyin Khayine high school said.
In Pyine Khayine village, located about seven hours drive in a motorboat from Laputta Town, there are three schools – a primary, a middle, and a high school – where about 1,500 children are studying. There are all together 52 teachers and 62 school workers.
According to aid agencies, Cyclone Nargis that left about 140,000 people dead or missing and devastated the lives of over 2.4 million people, left about 1 million children without schools in the Irrawaddy as well as Rangoon division.
While international non-government organizations (INGO) and other humanitarian agencies including United Nations have been taking initiatives to help the children by reconstructing the schools and building temporary learning centers, a local staff of the UNICEF said, many schools are still to be repaired.
Win Aung, UNICEF’s Educational Specialist said the agency has helped in building about 28 schools in Dedaye Township, where the cyclone has damaged over 200 schools.
“There are so many schools that need rebuilding. I don’t think we can complete rebuilding even this year,” Win Aung said.
He said, even while rebuilding some schools the sizes are becoming smaller, so that students are forced to attend school in batches.
The UNICEF has also helped in rebuilding about 200 makeshift huts and about 700 tarpaulin huts in Bogale, Laputta, Pyapone, Dedaye, Kyaiklat, Khun Chan Kone and Kawhmu townships.
“But these huts will not withstand the coming monsoon, as they are built as a temporary measure,” Win Aung said.
Like the UNICEF, several other INGOs such as Oxfam have also extended help to children’s education by providing learning material to children in the affected areas.
Claire Light, country director of Oxfam, said they have been able to supply learning material to about 107 primary, middle and high schools in various townships such as Laputta, Ngaputaw, and Mawlamyiang Kyun, but the need for children and their learning is still large.
“We will have to continue with the educational support. We would continue as much as we can in the most effective way,” Light said.
Win Aung said while the UNICEF will continue their work in other sectors, for 2009 the group has identified three areas in the Irrawaddy delta and two in Rangoon division where they will put their focus to help children get back to schools.
“It is mainly because of financial shortage, and as other NGOs are also doing work in other places, we have identified our focus area,” he said.
Despite of the efforts by INGOs, NGOs and UN agencies, a local aid worker, who frequently visited cyclone-hit areas, said it would be impossible to rebuild all schools flattened by the cyclone before the end of the 2009 academic year.
He said, many schools are totally flattened while several others suffered partial damages with their roofs blown away or walls torn-off.
In Pyin Khayine village, Aung Kaung Myat Kyaw said at least 200 children were killed by the cyclone while about 40 children lost their parents.
Many of the children, who lost both their parents left their village and went to stay with relatives in villages such as The Chuang, Kan Seik, and Set Seik, in the further south of Bogale Township.
He said, while no one was killed in his family, his father suffered heavy losses in his business as all his salt farms were destroyed.
The father of Aung Kaung Myat Kyaw said, “I lost everything in my business and we barely had anything to eat after the cyclone.”
But he was lucky, he said, as he was able to restart his business with the loan given by the government, though he had to repay the loan at an interest rate of 15 per cent.
“I don’t complain about it, because that’s the only hope I have to restart my business,” he said.
With his father’s business up and running again, Aung Kaung Myat Kyaw and his little sister have the luxury of going to Pathein for better education. But many children, particularly those who lost their parents have no such luck.
Win Aung from the UNICEF said, “We are trying our best, to bring the kids to school, because it is important that they get at least primary education.”
But he said, it remains the biggest challenge to them and to many other NGOs and agencies, who are working to keep children in schools as their educational lifeline greatly depends on their parent’s economic situation.
“Unless there is economic sustainability, it will be difficult for children to remain in the schools,” he added.
