ENGLISH DEYEA NEWS

By MIN LWIN

The new academic year started in Burma on June 2. In the Irrawaddy delta and the western suburbs of Rangoon, schoolchildren are returning to schools that still bear the scars of Cyclone Nargis.

In Kungyangone Township, 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of Rangoon, a primary school in the village of Manka Lane still had a gaping hole in the roof. Children arrived on the morning of June 2 for lessons; however, several students had to be taught in a plastic tent, according to residents in Kungyangone.

Schoolchildren have to study in their teacher's home in the village of Ma Wun in the Irrawaddy delta because their classroom was damaged. (Photo: Reuters)

“There is so much suffering at school and so much sadness and loss,” said a private secondary school teacher in Kungyangone Township. “Two of our students died in the cyclone.”

Aid agencies said that the May 2-3 cyclone destroyed and damaged an estimated 4,106 schools while 100 schoolteachers were killed. Most of the 1,255 schools completely destroyed by Cyclone Nargis were in the Irrawaddy delta. The education of an estimated 500,000 children has been disrupted.

An unknown number of schoolchildren were killed in the storm. However, aid agencies have said that 40 percent of the population are children, and it is likely that a disproportionate number of youngsters were killed by a tidal wave that struck after the cyclone, due to their lack of strength. Therefore, if 134,000 are officially dead or missing, it would appear that between 50 and 60,000 children were killed by Cyclone Nargis, mainly in the delta region.

"Reopening schools before they are repaired can cause the children more misery and psychological harm," said a former headmaster in Rangoon.

Schoolchildren in Manka Lane village had to study in a tent because their classroom was damaged. (Photo: Moe Aung Tin/ The Irrawaddy)

He said that reopening schools that were inadequately prepared and possibly unsafe would only exacerbate problems, leading to greater anxiety, trauma and a sense of isolation among children.

A Rangoon resident who returned from the delta said that text books and teaching materials for schools were lost in the tropical storm.

He told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that students were being taught in damaged buildings in Taw Kyaung village, five kilometers (three miles) from Kungyangone.

“If it is raining, the students have to hold an umbrella in the classroom while they are reading or studying,” he said.

Residents in Kungyangone Township complained that the Asia World Company, a private contractor responsible for reconstruction in Kungyangone Township, has begun rebuilding in and around the town, but that schools in outlying areas have still not been repaired.

An official from the Burmese Department of Education No.1, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the military government had ordered the reopening of schools as quickly as possible, but that many of the schools were still in an unsafe condition for students.

She said, “The schools should be safe and secure environments, so that the students can attend and return to normal, and that the learning process can restart.

“The first task is not reopening schools and teaching—the first task we face is creating a safe and secure environment for our students,” she added.