Local children are finding it difficult to pursue their education due to frequent school closures caused by heavy shell explosions in Shwe Yaung Pya village-tract, Bilin Township, Mon State, according to villagers from Shwe Yaung Pya.
A local man said, “The Karen school in Shwe Yaung Pya is frequently closed. The school in Ahwungyi remains closed. Grade-5 and Grade-6 students are teaching the children. Relevant organizations want children to enroll in their schools. How can we cross over the mountain to go to school?”
Shwe Yaung Pya village-tract comprises Shwe Yaung Pya, Ahwungyi, Michaungaing and Zeekone villages. Due to the military council’s frequent firing of heavy shells, some schools in the village-tract remain closed. There are no teachers at the school, said locals and those helping them.
“There is a school operating under Kawthoolei’s education system in Shwe Yaung Pya village, which has over 100 households. However, the school faces irregular openings due to regional instability. In Ahwungyi village, with nearly 200 households, some school-age children have been unable to continue their education since the school shutdown during the Covid-19 pandemic,” said a woman from Ahwungyi village.
“Children from well-to-do families can attend school in town, but the poor children have no options. For about three years now, they have been unable to pursue their education due to displacement and the Covid-19 pandemic. When attempts were made to open the school, heavy shell explosions resulted in deaths among villagers. As a result, no one dares to reopen the school. Teachers have fled, and parents are too afraid to send their children to school,” a woman from the village said.
Currently, even village children who have completed middle school education are teaching younger children in nearby junior classes. Furthermore, some high school-aged children are reportedly seeking employment abroad despite not having completed their education.
Villagers urgently require assistance from relevant officials regarding the education of their children. The frequent displacements not only impact their socio-economic status but also exacerbate livelihood difficulties for the affected families, said those helping the IDPs.
Locals fled to Baw Di Kone hill in Shwe Yaung Pya village and their relatives when fighting erupts around the village. Currently, the number of IDPs in the area has increased as some flood victims from flood-hit villages in Bilin Township have also sought shelter there, said a man helping the IDPs.
He recounted his experience, saying, “Not only internally displaced persons (IDPs) but also flood victims are seeking refuge in Baw Di Kone. The high school located at the entrance of Shwe Yaung Pya is closed, and the clinic is also shut down. People are facing difficulties in accessing education, healthcare, and food.”
Since the military coup, locals in villages within Thaton District, particularly in Shwe Yaung Pya village-tract under the control of the KNU’s Brigade-1, have been subjected to human rights violations. These include house break-ins, arrests, and killings by the military council forces, in addition to casualties caused by artillery shelling. The Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) frequently releases statements regarding these incidents.
Sent by KIC