Donations sought for Thandwe Twsp monastic school 

By DMG 23 Jun 2021

DMG Newsroom
23 June 2021, Thandwe 

Donors are still needed for more than 1,300 students studying at the Palay (Pearl) Yadana monastic education school in Thandwe Township, Arakan State. 

Officials at the school said that in addition to the students’ need for food, shelter and teaching aid materials, there are also shortages of classrooms. 

The number of students at Palay Yadana monastic education school is increasing every year and students from various parts of Arakan State who are having difficulty attending school due to financial constraints are also attending the school. 

This year, the monastic education school was expected to accept about 1,600 students, but due to various difficulties, it was only able to accommodate just over 1,300 students. 

In an effort to alleviate the students’ livelihood hardships, local youths in Thandwe began a plan to collect money from donors by touring around the town every Saturday. 

“We collect donations every Saturday. Donations of money, as well as vegetables, rice, oil and salt are also purchased and sent to the monastic education school,” said Daw Mi Mi Khaing, who regularly takes part in the collection of donations. 

Of the 1,300-plus students at the monastic education school, more than 100 live at the school, consuming about seven sacks of rice per day. 

In addition, the school has a total of 40 teachers and each teacher is hired for K400,000 a month, so the cost of students’ meals and teachers’ salaries totals more than K10 million per month, according to school officials. 

Myanmar’s political crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic in Arakan State have affected the economy and people’s pocketbooks, and the support of students and parents at the Palay Yadana school has been weaker than in previous years. 

“If you attend an outside school, it costs at least 3 million kyats a year. The abbot provides all the support, so it is convenient for our education,” said Ma Theingi Htet, a student attending the monastic school due to financial difficulties. 

The Palay Yadana monastic education school is the fourth-largest school of its kind in Myanmar and has been open for more than a decade.