Both teachers and students in Karenni (Kayah) State are always worry about the threat

of the Junta’s aerial bombing raids, while they are engaged in teaching and learning inside the classroom.

In Karenni State's refugee camps, self-reliant schools have been established to safeguard the continuity of children's education. However teachers constantly  work in fear of  their school becoming the target of the next airstrike. The aerial attacks and shelling by the Military Council, have spared neither the refugee camps nor their educational institutions.

A teacher from western Demso told Kantarawaddy Times," Artillery shells have hit schools before. Also, there is always the fear of new airstrikes. When we hear a plane, we're always wondering where to take the children for safety. Even the distant sound of a plane makes the kids scared, and unable to concentrate on their studies. Both students and teachers have to deal with fear while trying to carry on with their schoolwork.”

Those assisting war refugees have lambasted the cruelty of the Junta’s air raids on refugee camps and schools, which infringe upon the educational rights of local children. These attacks have instilled fear in parents, making them hesitant to send their children to school.

According to U Banyar, No. 2 Secretary of The Interim Executive Council of Karenni State (IEC), the Military Council conducted the majority of its airstrikes during the months of June, July, and August, with a particular focus on midnight and the early morning hours, when the local residents were asleep.

"During that time, airstrikes hit a preschool and a high school in western Demoso. Bombs also fell close to schools. It seems the Military Council deliberately targeted these schools. In almost 10 schools in western Hpruso, students are still hesitant about returning to school. In some places, because they fear school bombings, students are avoiding school and studying together in residential areas”, U Banyar said.

According to IEC, over 400 self-sufficient schools have been established in Karenni State, with a teaching staff of more than 3000 and a student body of around 40000.

According to a report from the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, an international education monitoring group, there were over 3000 attacks on educational facilities worldwide in 2022. Following Ukraine, Myanmar is reported to have the second-highest number of such attacks. These aerial assaults on schools, teachers and the lives of schoolchildren has marked out Myanmar as one of the worst cases in the world, where war-crimes have piled up in 2023 on a level comparable to the war in Ukraine.     

In August, bombs released by warplanes of the Military Council exploded in close proximity to two school buildings in Demoso Township. Following these air assaults, students have become increasingly apprehensive about attending school. A schoolteacher in Demoso declared, "Children are innocent, and they should be able to study in peace. Targeting civilians is not acceptable.”