Aizawl: Over 6,000 children of Myanmarese refugees have enrolled in government and private schools across Mizoram since March last year, following the military coup there.
As per Mizoram Education Department officials, 5,221 Myanmarese children have enrolled in government schools, 184 in government-aided institutes, and 790 in private schools up to Class 10 throughout the state.
Right to Education Act
The Education Department had previously informed all district and sub-divisional education officers, citing the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act-2009), that children aged 6 to 14 years belonging to disadvantaged communities have the right to be admitted to schools in a class appropriate to his/her age for completing elementary education.
Earlier, some Myanmar parliamentarians and parents asked Mizoram Education Minister Lalchhandama Ralte to "look into the academic and other problems" of Myanmarese children, and the state government then issued a notification about the enrollment of Myanmar child refugees.
From Mizo to Burmese
The children have no language problems with Mizoram's academic syllabus textbooks and other materials because the majority of them are from the Chin community, who share the same ancestry and culture as the Mizos of Mizoram, and also speak Mizo.
Mizoram University and the Institute of Chin Affairs (ICA), a non-governmental organisation, recently agreed to establish diploma courses in the Burmese language and communication skills at the central university.
Official records state that around 30,400 Myanmar refugees, including 11,798 children and 10,047 women, are sheltered in Mizoram in over 156 camps spread across all 11 districts, while a large number of them sought refuge in relatives' homes, community centres, rented houses, government buildings, and shelter houses established by various NGOs, including the Young Mizo Association, one of the largest NGOs in northeast India.
(To receive our E-paper on whatsapp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
