School Children and Teachers Still Finding Hard to Concentrate

By IRIN / KUNGYANGONE
The Irrawaddy News

A woman teacher, who is 10-year veteran of the profession, was clearly frustrated.

"I find it harder to control the class," she admitted outside the makeshift school of 50 primary-age children in cyclone-affected Kungyangone, one of the worst-hit townships in Burma's Rangoon Division.

Two months after Cyclone Nargis struck, leaving more than 138,000 dead or missing, teachers are seeing first-hand the problems children face in returning to their studies. Almost half her students show signs of difficulty concentrating on their lessons.

"They don't seem to hear or respond to my questions very often in class," the teacher said.

While playing outside, some of the children rush back into the makeshift school, comprised of nothing more than bamboo and plastic sheeting, at the slightest sight of a dark cloud or hint of rain.

"I don't know how to help them," the teacher said.

Dealing with trauma

According to Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Bangkok, "One of the best ways to help children to return to normalcy is to get them back into the classrooms."

As well as helping children get back to some sort of normality, being in school protects children from further harm that may follow a natural disaster, such as the risk of trafficking or child labor.

But with many of the children severely traumatized by the disaster, it is clear they will need help—and teachers are right on the frontline.

"Physically, they [students] are sitting in the class, but spiritually they are not here. Their minds are far away," said one teacher working at the Basic Education High School of Tawkyaung, Kungyangone Township.

Students who lost family members to the storm often performed poorly compared with other students who had been less affected, he said.

But it is not just the children who are suffering. Teachers, particularly in the cyclone-affected areas of Laputta and Bogalay, mostly female, were also badly traumatized by the storm that killed more than 113 of their colleagues.

Eight weeks on, some teachers complain of a lack of energy or the inability to concentrate on their work, with even a gust of wind throwing them off-track.

"I'm uncomfortable while it's raining when I see water building up around the school during my lecture," Than Win, another local teacher, who lost his wife and a three-year-old daughter in the category four storm, said.

"I simply stop. Only when I realize it's due to the rain do I resume," the 32-year-old teacher said—further evidence that before being able to support the children, the teachers will need help.

"We expect psycho-social training would be able to start soon for the teachers in the cyclone-ravaged areas," an official from UNICEF/Myanmar told IRIN in Rangoon, the former capital.

The agency hopes to support the psycho-social training of approximately 3,000 primary teachers in five townships, including Bogalay, Laputta, Mawlamyinegyune, Kawhmu, and Kungyangone.

"This draft module is now finished and is being reviewed by the Ministry of Education," the agency official said.

In addition, UNICEF has developed a "Tip-for-Teachers" booklet, which was approved by the Ministry of Education, translated into the local language and is now being printed for distribution. It contains detailed instructions on psycho-social support and the recovery of affected children.

Education losses

Meanwhile, government estimates of the physical toll on education in Burma continue to come in.

According to the latest figures, in Rangoon Division, some 1,815 or 48 percent of public school buildings were totally or partially damaged, with Kungyangone, Thone Gwa and Twantay townships suffering the most.

In the southern Irrawaddy delta, just over 2,000 or 43 percent of all public school buildings were totally or partially damaged, with Bogalay, Laputta and Mawlamyinegyune townships the worst affected.

Moreover, 123 monastic schools were partially damaged.

Approximately 40 government-sponsored early childhood care, youth development centers and community learning centers were damaged.

Another 242 private early childcare establishment were also damaged or destroyed, while 80 administrative offices experienced roof and partial damage and 461 university buildings and higher education administrative offices lost their roofs.