Arakan News Agency | Esclusive
Prices of school textbooks and other stationery in Maungdaw township in Arakan have soared greatly amid great shortage that threaten children’s education, according to parents and shop owners.
“It’s no longer easy to send children to school, just buying textbooks and school supplies costs over a hundred thousand kyats. Everything is expensive even pencils are costly,” a parent from Maungdaw told Arakan News Agency.
According to stationery shop owners, the prices of school textbooks range from 20,000 kyats to 85,000 kyats ($4 to $19) for different stages. Parents of students say that other school supplies such as blank notebooks, pencils, pens, and rulers are also at high prices.
“In Maungdaw, school textbooks have become rare items. It’s very difficult to order or purchase them. Transportation is poor, and the overall expenses are quite high. That’s why the prices are going up,” a stationery shop owner in Maungdaw told Arakan News Agency.
Since war started in Arakan, Myanmar army has blocked and restricted all land and water routes in the Arakan region, as well as banned the flow of goods. As a result, supplies have become scarce, and prices have risen in areas controlled by the Arakan Army.
The Arakan Army launched a military campaign in November 2023 against the Myanmar military to seize control of the state, capturing 14 of the 17 towns. The conflict has also affected the Rohingya, who have been subjected to violence, forced displacement, and persecution by both sides. They were also subjected to a “genocidal” campaign by the Myanmar military in 2017, which forced nearly a million of them to flee to Bangladesh.
