As the beginning of a new academic year has arrived, basic education schools are once again bustling with students dressed in their white and green school uniforms. Schools and school compounds are filled with the lively presence of cheerful and smiling students and teachers, creating a graceful and vibrant atmosphere.
In areas under the administration of the State government, students are able to peacefully pursue both basic and higher education. They have the opportunity to receive an appropriate level of education according to their respective ages. Moreover, under the new placement test system, students who lost educational opportunities for several years due to various circumstances will also be given opportunities to resume their studies as a form of academic rehabilitation.
Before studying vocational subjects, school education serves as the first pathway for children to develop their basic intellectual abilities and broaden their understanding. Therefore, ensuring that school-age children are able to attend school is an extremely important matter for their future lives. To make it happen, local authorities, parents, and teachers must work together to provide support and assistance. Only then can children be protected from losing their opportunities for education.
While children in peaceful and stable areas can study calmly and without worry in schools, children in areas affected by armed conflict are losing their opportunities to receive an education. Have the various organizations operating in conflict-affected areas truly considered the lives of children who are becoming discouraged and hopeless because they have been deprived of educational opportunities? At present, innocent children are not only unable to study subjects appropriate for their age levels, but are also being forced to endure the negative consequences of unstable and insecure regional conditions.
The loss of educational opportunities in children’s lives could eventually lead to a breakdown in human resource development across different regions in the future. Regional development efforts may face shortages of human resources as a consequence of young people losing access to education. As a result, development projects may be delayed, and progress slowed, leaving local people to experience underdevelopment and lagging growth. The consequence of losing educational opportunities due to the lack of regional peace and stability will ultimately be the delayed development and backwardness of their own regions.
The disruption of peace and stability is destroying children’s right to education. Those who cause instability are dimming the country’s future. Each individual, group, or organization must question and examine for themselves whether their actions truly contribute to the development of human resources for many generations. #TheGlobalNewLightOfMyanmar