Floods Shutter Nearly 1,400 Schools Across Burma Skip to main content

Floods Shutter Nearly 1,400 Schools Across Burma

By | Tuesday, August 4, 2015 |
Families displaced by flooding pass the time in Kale Township, Sagaing Division, on Monday. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)
Families displaced by flooding pass the time in Kale Township, Sagaing Division, on Monday. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)
RANGOON — Burma’s government announced on Monday that a total of 1,387 schools have been temporarily shuttered due to severe flooding that has affected wide swathes of the country in recent weeks.
In a statement published in state media on Tuesday, the government said flooding in 11 states and divisions, caused by heavy rains over the last two months, had forced a disruption of the ongoing academic year at 1,010 primary schools, 293 middle schools and 84 high schools across nine states and divisions.
“Schools have been unable to open since [some of the buildings are] flooded and at some schools, refugees who fled their homes due to flooding are staying there,” said Aye Maung, a member of Action-Based Community Development (ABCD), a local NGO in Arakan State.
He said education officials were in the process of assessing water damage to some schools in the state as relief groups have begun to arrive to flood-affected areas.
“The water level is down here,” he said by phone from Mrauk-U on Tuesday. “But the refugees can’t go back to their homes since all of their houses and property were in the flood’s path. They need relief for resettlement, so they are still sheltering at monasteries and schools.”
The government said the Basic Education Department under Burma’s Ministry of Education had distributed stationery worth 317 million kyats (US$257,000) to education administrators’ offices in the affected states and divisions.
Aung Kyaw Tun, head of the Irrawaddy Division Education Department, told The Irrawaddy last week that schools there would be reopened when the floods receded and schoolhouses were deemed safe.
“I have instructed that additional classes be held on weekends for students to be able to catch up on their lessons,” he said.
The Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement has said that more than 217,000 people have been affected by the flooding and 46 had died as of Monday.
State media said Arakan State was hardest hit by the school closures, with 681 schools in the western region shuttered, followed by 239 closings in Pegu Division. The remaining regions grappling with school closures include the divisions of Magwe (128 schools), Sagaing (108), Irrawaddy (77) and Rangoon (24), and the states of Kachin (62), Karen (50) and Chin (18).
Meanwhile, the well-known meteorologist Tun Lwin said the situation in Irrawaddy Division was likely to worsen in the coming days as floodwaters from Upper Burma swell the Irrawaddy River and tributaries whose ultimate destination will be the Andaman Sea via the Irrawaddy Delta.
“Currently, the Irrawaddy Delta, Rangoon, Pegu are flooded. The waters from upstream are going to come in to those areas. The water levels at currently flooded areas will rise further. And areas where water has not reached, water will come,” Tun Lwin told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.
With additional reporting by Yen Snaing.

http://www.irrawaddy.org/burma/floods-shutter-nearly-1400-schools-across-burma.html
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do...
1 comment
Read more

Ancient Rakhine City of Mrauk-U Proposed for UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Irrawaddy YANGON—Myanmar’s Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture submitted the final draft of its nomination for Mrauk-U to become a World Heritage Site to UNESCO on Monday, four months after the ministry submitted the first draft of its nomination in September 2019. If the application succeeds, Mrauk-U will be the third place in Myanmar to be inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, after the ancient cities of Bagan and Pyu. Mrauk-U is located in northern Rakhine State, around 60 km from the state capital of Sittwe. The ancient city was the seat of Arakanese kings from the 1400s until the late 1700s. At the height of their power, they controlled an area covering large parts of eastern Bengal, modern-day Rakhine State and the western part of central Myanmar. Much of the city’s remains are well-preserved and some 380 historic temples are scattered between the lush hills of northern Rakhine. Mrauk-U Heritage Trust chairwoman Daw Khin Than told The Irrawaddy on Tue...
1 comment
Read more

Sri Bhaddanta Chandramani Mahathera

The Life Story of A Distinguished And Outstanding Bhikkhu The Most Venerable Saradawpharagree Sri Bhaddanta Chandramani Mahathera The Buddhist missionary Saradaw Ashin U Chandramani was endowed with great gifts and led a famous and long life. He was a very well known, distinguished and outstanding Bhikkhu Mahathera. While living in the Kushinagar Monastery, a place close to where the Lord Buddha had passed away to Nirvana, the Government of India had offered, and he had accepted, the highest, most honourable and respected title "Guru Guru MahaGuru". He became the first ever President of all Buddhists in India.A World Buddhist Conference took place in Kathmandu during the reign of King Mahindra of Nepal. The Conference was very well attended by over one hundred thousand Buddhists from various parts of the world and it was opened by King Mahindra himself. As requested by the King, Saradawpharagree blessed all the participants with the power of Triple Gems...
Post a Comment
Read more