The Start of the School Year Will not Take Place

“We queue up in front of the cemeteries to bury our dead”.

Words fail to describe the tragic testimony of Sister Benedicta, particularly as the start of the new school year is approaching.

Myanmar is currently experiencing another tragic episode in its history. Although the western media hardly report on it, the conflicts between certain ethnic militias and the governmental army (Tatmadaw) have created a climate of civil war in the country. So why worry about a new school year?

When students are expected to return to school in most Southeast Asia, the results are catastrophic. It has been two years since Burmese children were physically able to go to school, first because of lockdown, then the coup, and now the civil war. 

Thankfully, numerous initiatives help these students maintain some schooling habits. As an illustration, summer camps are organised by certain professors in their regions. Informal classes were also set up in refugee camps sheltered from the jungle in the Kachin or Kaya states. However, the number of children who benefit from such outpourings of generosity pales in comparison to the immense distress of the majority. In these new makeshift shelters, the priority is not education.

Assumpta, one of our local contacts in the Kaya state, testifies: “I am writing this mail in urgency, because, as you may know, the situation in the Kaya state might be one of the worst in Myanmar. There are fights every day. People take refuge in our homes, as we are safe from the jungle. Most of the people here are very poor. We lack everything, especially rice. If the situation continues, we will not die from guns but hunger. Please help the refugees, please.”

In the Philippines, the situation is not improving either. For nearly 18 months, all schools have been closed, and students must attend school online.

On the 13th of September, students have been able to resume their studies. That is 2 months after the usual start date of the school year, usually in June in the Philippines.

According to Nikkei Asia, around 53% of students surveyed were not sure to acquire the skills set by the Department of Education. Only 7 out of 10 students thought they would complete their curriculum, and 87% of students reported unstable internet connection. Despite these facts, the government announced that online learning will remain the norm for the coming academic year.

However, in  Cambodia, the situation is improving. 

Phnom Penh recently became the most vaccinated city in South East Asia, after Singapore, thanks to the country vaccination campaign that was among the first in the region aiming at reviving the tourism and industrial sectors. Cambodia has already vaccinated more than 70% of its 16.5 million inhabitants, while those of the capital of Phnom Penh already receive the third booster dose. With mass immunity almost reached, the government has authorised a partial reopening of schools, province after province. This is already the case in the capital and four other large provinces, including Banteay Meanchey, Children of the Mekong Sisophon centre province.

Although national realities differ, a certainty emerges from Southeast Asia’s troubled period as the region faces this third deadly wave of Covid-19. Even though the entire population suffer, the most affected by the crisis and its repercussions are those who are the least spoken about: the silent majority who struggle every day to pay for a meal and are prevented from moving or working.

It is from this majority that comes from many sponsored Children of The Mekong, many of whom are suffering from hunger, separation and sometimes death.

So, how can we believe that online schooling is an appropriate solution for them?

This year, thousands of children will not be able to go back to school!