Introduction
As the armed conflict in Myanmar prolongs, Mon State is simultaneously facing military, economic, and social pressures. Local populations are confronting multifaceted crises, including insecurity, scarcity of employment leading to reduced income, exorbitant price increases, and displacement due to conflict. These circumstances have negatively impacted children’s education. In the 2025-2026 academic year, the number of students enrolled in basic education, monastic, and private schools across Myanmar was just over 6.1 million. This represents a significant decrease of 4.6 percent (nearly 300,000 students) compared to over 6.4 million enrolled in the previous year (2024-2025).[1] Even with a system that promotes students to the next grade without failing exams, the continuous decline in enrollment indicates that children are increasingly disengaging from education due to the repercussions of the conflict. This report examines the impact of these socio-economic crises on children’s education within the Mon region.
- Educational Challenges Faced by Students and Parents
The current socioeconomic crisis across Myanmar not only hinders the future and educational opportunities of young people but also deprives children and youth of their fundamental rights and freedoms. According to data compiled by RICE, the following seven major challenges are faced daily by student parents and children:
| 1.1. Educational Challenges Faced by Students and Parents[2] | |
| 1. Disparity between Income and Expenses | School pocket money, tuition fees, school fees, and stationery prices have increased by 2 to 3 times compared to before, while basic income has not increased.
|
| 2. Transportation Burden | Due to the high price of fuel, ferry fees and school transportation costs have become excessively high. This makes it more difficult for local children from remote areas with poor transportation access to attend school regularly.
|
| 3. Children’s Psychological Distress: | Due to financial hardship, children experience feelings of inadequacy among their classmates because they cannot be provided with complete school uniforms and learning materials.
|
| 4. Inaccessibility to educational support materials
|
Parents are unable to afford external courses, books, and technological (computer/IT) equipment that would enhance their children’s education, as they are struggling to meet daily subsistence needs.
|
| 5. Parents are unable to provide close attention: | Parents have to work extra hours to cover school expenses and living costs, leaving them with no time to closely guide and care for their children’s education.
|
| 6. High Domestic Stress | The cost of a child’s schooling is nearly equivalent to the entire household’s expenses, leading to constant and increasing anxiety and family worries among parents.
|
| 7. Dropping out of school and entering the workforce | When school fees became completely unaffordable, children were forced to drop out of school and prematurely enter the workforce to earn income for their families.
|
1.2. Early Entry of School-Aged Children into the Workforce
Due to exorbitant price increases and general economic decline in Mon State, basic-level families can no longer afford education expenses. Consequently, they are withdrawing their children from school and sending them to work to support the family’s livelihood. Currently, the price of stationery has significantly increased, with a dozen blank notebooks costing around 20,000 kyats and pencils/pens around 1,000 kyats each. This has led to a large disparity between family income and expenses. As a result, many children only attend primary school to learn to read, and a noticeable decrease in student numbers is observed at the high school level (grades 10, 11, and 12). In some wards of Kyaikhto Township, children and young people aged 12 to 20 are abandoning their studies and entering the workforce early, taking jobs in construction and other strenuous labor that earn them around 10,000 to 18,000 kyats per day.[3] Similarly, in larger cities like Mawlamyine, economic hardships have led to a worrying increase in school-aged children begging on the streets and being exploited as child laborers. [4]
1.3. Impacts of Disparities in the Education System
In Mon State, the education system of the military government and the ethnic education system of the Mon National Education Committee (MNNEC) coexist. Due to changes in transition policies between the two systems, psychological stress is increasing among students and parents.
Previously, through an understanding between the New Mon State Party and the government in 1995, Mon national schools were granted direct transfer to government schools and the right to take external examinations. However, since these agreements were not formally documented, there is a weakness in that renegotiations are required annually with each change in administration.[5] This year, in particular, the emergence of a new requirement for those wishing to transfer schools to compulsorily take a Placement Test, scheduled for mid-June, and the extremely short preparation time, have significantly increased anxieties among parents and children.[6] On the other hand, as new schools are expanded and opened under the MNEC, the Mon National College (MNC) has also been working to address the shortage of local teachers and to provide undergraduate-level education for young people unable to study abroad. Notably, after successfully launching a B.Sc. in Nursing in 2023 and a BA in Social Science in 2025, this year, they are further expanding by accepting students for a BA in Education, which includes 120 credits and many practical lessons, starting from May 25th. Furthermore, the plan to further extend Mon literature and culture subjects and Information Technology (IT) subjects to BA level indicates a struggle to elevate the regional education sector amidst official restrictions.
Due to political changes in the central government, the Mon National Education College (MNEC) system, based on the mother tongue, has become one of the most trusted educational institutions for the local community. The Mon National College (MNC)’s Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with international universities and its curriculum emphasizing English language and applied technological skills are more effective in meeting regional workforce needs than the current military junta’s centralized education system, offering greater advantages for young people. Nevertheless, the lack of formal contractual agreements between the two systems and legal restrictions (Placement Tests) that exploit the legitimacy issues of the coup-leader military junta to exert pressure will continue to create psychological stress and uncertainty in educational pathways for students and parents in the long term.
- Inability to Sustain Livelihoods with Employee Salaries and Increasing Demand for Education Staff
Under the current socioeconomic crisis, basic government employees, including school-teachers, are increasingly unable to sustain their livelihoods with their regular salaries. Consequently, a growing number are resigning to work abroad or transition to the private sector. Those who continue to serve in schools are also forced to open private tutoring classes in their homes to earn additional income and make ends meet due to insufficient basic salaries. [7]
On the other hand, in basic education schools located in the remote border areas and conflict zones of Mon State, the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and the lack of security guarantees have made teachers reluctant to go there. Consequently, the shortage of teacher resources in rural education has reached its highest point. The imbalance in the teacher-student ratio, with a single teacher having to manage a large number of students, has led to challenges such as substandard teaching quality and irregular class schedules.[8] The remaining teachers in the current schools are also facing an excessive workload due to insufficient staffing, and the mental and physical stress is expected to lead to a higher turnover rate in the long run. The shortage of school teacher resources is also experiencing the impact of political and socioeconomic repercussions.
3.A Security Crisis and Prolonged School Closures
Due to military conflicts and battles, basic education schools in areas such as Chaung Hna Khwa village, Kyaikmaraw Township, Mon State, have been closed for over two years. Although preparations are currently underway to reopen schools, parents and children still lack a sense of psychological security due to concerns about landmines and unexploded ordnance within school premises. Children from at least 20 villages in Kyaikmaraw Township, including Mettaw, Kaw Dun, Kaw Panaw, Chaung Hna Khwa, Taung Kalay, Hla Ka Zai, and Paw Laaw Kone, are also facing challenges in educational opportunities and safety due to military conflicts.[9]
4.Deterioration of the Online Education System
Following the military coup, due to weak regional security and the inability of schools to operate normally, online learning became the primary alternative in the Mon region. However, this learning method also faced difficulties due to internet outages and irregular electricity supply. Consequently, children and young people found it challenging to access research information, leading to a negative educational trend where they lag behind neighboring countries in terms of technology and education.[10]
- Conclusion and Analysis
The post-election multifaceted crises under the military junta have been found to drive up school dropout rates within the education sector of the Mon region. Factors such as the rise of child labor and migration driven by livelihood struggles, the growing shortage of teaching resources due to political conflict and inadequate staff salaries, and the deterioration of the online education system will continue to block local learning opportunities and the path to educational advancement under a centralized system.
In analysis, although the military administrative apparatus claims to hold ceasefire agreements with ethnic armed organizations, it continues to issue new centralized pressures regarding the education system—such as the Placement Test. This indicates that uncertainty and psychological stress will long be imposed upon students and parents alike. However, even amidst these crises, the mother tongue-based Mon National Education Committee (MNEC/MNNEC) and the Mon National College (MNC) system are responding to localized and workplace demands more effectively than the state’s educational apparatus. Consequently, this reveals a significant shift toward a structural turning point, strengthening into a more trusted, community-reliant “self-determination-based education.”
[1] DVB, May 19, 2026, School-aged children are leaving classrooms due to economic hardship, LInk
[2]Educational Challenges Faced by Students and Parents (RICE Field Survey).
[3] DVB, May 19, 2026, School-aged children are leaving classrooms due to economic hardship, LInk
[4] Independent Mon News Agency, May 27, 2026, The number of school-aged children begging in Mawlamyine is still increasing, Link
[5] Free Mon News Agency, May 30, 2026, Students transferring from Mon National School to government schools must take a Placement Test, Link
[6] Independent Mon News Agency, May 21, 2026, Students’ Parents Say There’s Not Enough Time to Prepare for Placement Test, Link
[7] Inability to sustain livelihood with employee salary, (RICE Field Survey)
[8] Independent Mon News Agency, June 1, 2026, Teacher shortages in basic education schools in remote and conflict-affected areas of Mon State.Link
[9] Dawei Watch, May 22, 2026, Schools closed due to fighting in Kyaikmaraw’s Chaung နှစ်ခွ village are preparing to reopen, Link
[10] Deterioration of the Online Education System (RICE Field Survey)
