Some junta-run schools in Homalin Township, Sagaing Region have not received any of the government-provided free primary school uniforms and textbooks they should have, for the last four years.

An administration committee member of an undisclosed school in Homalin Township said: “The [junta-run] township education department here isn’t helping us at all with the current situation. While schools in other parts of the country are getting free uniforms and textbooks for their students, we don’t have that kind of support. Some of the textbooks we managed to collect last year were full of bullet holes, soaked with water, and completely unusable. We still don’t know if we’ll get any textbooks for the upcoming academic year, but according to the headmaster, it doesn’t seem likely.”

Though school enrollment for the new academic year in Homalin Township began on 22 May and students are due to start the new academic year in June, some schools in Homalin Township have still not received free uniforms and textbooks.

Also, many of the schools in Homalin Township that did receive free textbooks only received incomplete sets that were not enough for the number of students.

The aforementioned school committee member said: “For example, schools are only getting four textbooks out of a full set of six. I honestly have no idea how the authorities are managing things.”

A student’s mother said that to buy a set of six textbooks in Homalin Township costs between 100,000 and 150,000 MMK.

Textbooks and other essential student supplies can be bought at markets in downtown Homalin Town and the Homalin Township villages of Nantaw and Naungpoaung.

There are about 30,000 students in Homalin Township. They face challenges every year due to inadequate teaching staff and shortages of teaching materials.