6,195 Myanmar students in Mizoram schools | Popgen Tech

Photos are used for representational purposes only. File | Photo credit: SR Raghunathan

Nearly 6,200 Myanmar children who fled the civil war back home are studying in schools in Mizoram, mostly in the border districts.

Officials in the state capital Aizawl said most of the students who took refuge across the international border are in government-run schools. Some of the private institutions.

Mizoram shares a 510 km border with Myanmar. A majority of the roughly 40,000 Myanmar refugees in the northeastern state belong to the Chin community, ethnically related to Mizoram’s dominant Mizo people.

“The number of Myanmar children enrolled in our schools continues to change. But in 2021, a total of 6,195 children from the neighboring country were enrolled in schools across Mizoram,” State Director of School Education, H. Lalthlangliana told journalists in Aizawl.

He said the law does not prohibit Myanmar children from enrolling in Mizoram schools, but they are not treated as refugees because the Center has not granted the status to Myanmar nationals. He added that these children did not receive free school uniforms, textbooks and other benefits because of their situation.

Locals have helped Myanmar children out in many cases, officials said.

The unrest in Myanmar, however, has not stopped Mizoram University (MZU) from seeing opportunities in this country.

MZU in collaboration with the US-based Institute of China Affairs decided to launch a diploma course in Burmese language and communication skills with the support of the International Development Research Center.

“The Central and State Governments are preparing for border trade. The course is a kind of preparing the local youth for this and opening with international NGOs working in Myanmar. So it is hoped that there may be opportunities for our students in Myanmar, Lalnilawma of the university’s Department of Education Extension and Rural Development said. The Hindu.

Burmese is the official language of Myanmar and is spoken by about two-thirds of the population. The study of Myanmar’s culture and politics is inexorably linked to its language and both countries share a rich linguistic, ethnic, and religious heritage, he said.

“This 10-month course from October will equip students with understanding of Burmese script, vocabulary, and grammatical structure, as well as practice in speaking, conversation and writing. Though mainly for the university fraternity, we will allow locals to join in,” said Professor Lalnilawma.