Mizzima
Civil society organisations (CSOs) Save for Yaw and ANTS have joined forces to provide educational support to over 26,000 internally displaced children in the Yaw area.
The Yaw area encompasses more than 300 villages and townships in Gangaw District, Magway Region. Children there have faced significant challenges in accessing formal education due to COVID-19 and the military coup.
Ma Lili from ANTS (fund-raising organization) said, “Our objective is to provide assistance for the education of IDP children in the Yaw area, including essential items such as writing equipment, school textbooks, accommodations, and the necessary number of teachers.”
Yaw and ANTS have developed a two-pronged plan. Firstly, they are donating writing equipment, textbooks, and teaching materials to schools in need across the Yaw area. Secondly, they are identifying which schools in each township require assistance and giving them financial assistance so that they can buy resources and afford to employ a sufficient number of teachers for a year.
“Most of the children in the villages, excluding urban areas, are attending schools under the National Unity Government (NUG). However, due to teacher shortages and other challenges, the education system has not fully recovered since the military coup. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic and the junta's violent actions have severely impacted the area, making the situation even more precarious”, said Ko Yaw, a representative of Save for Yaw.
Save for Yaw and ANTS are also focussing on providing classroom education to displaced people in the Yaw area. They plan to offer a series of courses to enhance their skills and knowledge.
Unfortunately, because the junta has cut internet access in the Yaw area, students cannot be taught online and the only educational option is in-person teaching.
Save for Yaw and ANTS are currently also collaborating on a fundraising campaign for the project. They are aiming to raise 50 million kyats a month to support the educational needs of children in the Yaw area.
the Yaw area is in Gangaw District, a thin strip of Magway Region with Chin State top the east and Sagaing Region to the west. It consists of the townships of Gangaw, Htilin, Saw, Kyaukhtu, Kyaw, and Laungshal and over 300 villages.
It is a strategically important area and the junta has been deploying reinforcements to the area in an effort to establish their control. To do this they have been burning down villages that have offered any support to defence forces.
