Kachin refugee schools on China border request volunteers

Middle school in Jeyang camp in eastern Kachin state on Burma-China border

With a little more than two weeks before the start of the new academic year next month schools in internally displaced person's camps on the Burma-China border face a serious staffing shortfall. The schools which are located in territory controlled by the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) are short by more than 100 teachers and will not be able to open without staff says Labang Doi Pyi Sa, the head of KIO’s IDP and Refugee Relief Committee (IRRC) based in the group's Laiza capital.

Volunteers are needed at ten middle school at camps located in the following IDP camps: Bum Tsit Pa, Lana Zup, Pa Kahtawng, N’Hkawng Pa, Hpun Lum Yang, Je Yang, Maga Yang, Zai Awng aka Mungga Zup, boundary No. 6 (located below Kambaiti) and boundary No. 8 (located below Kambaiti). Teachers are also needed at three primary schools in Dumbung Krung, Laiza and Hpre (Pangwa area). The Laiza high school is also short teaching staff according to the IRRC.

Doi Pyi Sa told the Kachin News Group that the IRRC have reached out to church groups asking for volunteers teachers from any denomination. The volunteer teachers will be given a short teacher training course in Laiza before they work in the respective schools, he said.  The volunteers should arrive at Laiza for the training by May 20, he added.

The KIO-run schools used the same curriculum taught in the Burmese government schools during the previous 17 ceasefire year period. The curriculum has changed somewhat since the conflict began with more classes now taught in the Kachin language.

Volunteer teachers from across the country and across the world are encouraged to get in contact with the IRRC if they are interested in teaching. Those interested can contact IRRC at

Irrc.cc@gmail.com
,
zaurawlama@hotmail.com
, +86(0)13628890955, +86(0)15388825948