Student dies in airstrike on university in ‘liberated’ area

A series of airstrikes launched by Myanmar’s military junta on a university in an area not under the junta’s control has killed a female student and injured a professor. Two other students and two civilians have also been hurt, according to the university.

Aung San Comprehensive University, established in late 2024 in the city of Magway in Myanmar’s central region, was bombed at least eight times between the early morning of 30 January and 5.30 pm on 31 January.

Ma May Myat Noe Pwint (20), a Myanmar student from Yaw Region, was killed. The university’s temporary structures sustained damage from the airstrikes, the university said.

According to a news briefing posted on social media by the Baramati Guerrilla Group, a local Peoples’ Defence Force in Myaing, three jet fighters – two from the Magway Air Force Base and one from Tada-U town, 10 kilometres from the provincial capital of Mandalay – carried out the air attacks on the university.

Condemnation of ‘inhuman’ attacks

Aung San Comprehensive University, which bears the name of General Aung San, the Myanmar independence hero who was born in the Magway Region and was the father of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, is one of two universities established on the ground in mainland Myanmar by the Ministry of Education of the National Unity Government (NUG), which unites democracy groups and regional ethnic groups against the military government.

Other physical universities have been established on the ground by ethnic groups in areas ‘liberated’ by ethnic armed groups. The university offers bachelor programmes in the arts and sciences.

The university’s leadership committee said in a statement on 2 February it “strongly condemned the inhuman attacks”, honouring Ma May Myat Noe Pwint, who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) after the coup, as a “spring hero” in reference to the so-called Spring Revolution movement that arose following the coup.

Students under threat

According to a 1 February statement on the airstrikes released by the NUG’s Ministry of Education, a meticulous record is being kept by the ministry of attacks on students and civilians not considered military targets, which have resulted in mass casualties and injuries, and bombings on public places such as schools.

“Teachers and students studying on the ground have constantly been [exposed to] threat because of airstrikes and military soldiers storming the villages,” Thar Man Lu, a member of the board of education (Myaing), told University World News.

The military junta has increased airstrikes against civilians, hospitals, and schools as it is losing battles and territory formally under its control across the country.

“Although there have often been threats to schools, we are still weak in conducting air raid drills in schools throughout the country. We also have teacher shortages and a lack of funding,” Thar Man Lu said.

The education board, the local education authority established by the NUG, has opened makeshift classrooms to provide interim education for students whose schooling was disrupted by the coup and violence. Teachers who joined CDM against the junta and volunteers manage the majority of the interim schools.

One of the most horrifying airstrikes on schools following the coup took place in Let Yet Kone village in the Sagaing Region in September 2022 when junta helicopters targeted the primary school, killing 13 people, including seven pupils.

Delays to education

NUG-backed online schools and universities have been set up to ensure learning continues. However, teachers and students who study online face numerous difficulties due to the country's lengthy power outages, the junta's monitoring of online activities, internet outages, and VPN restrictions.

“The brutality of the junta has caused the process of interim education to be delayed and the number of teachers completing it to decline. Teachers have, however, persisted,” a spokesperson for the NUG Ministry of Education told University World News.

He added that even before the coup, the poor student-teacher ratio was a challenge for the ministry, and the dismissal of experienced and trained teachers from the profession following the coup could have a significant impact on the future of Myanmar's education.

“After the revolution, there will be a need for many morally upright, qualified, and smart teachers. The absence of teachers who have been detained, tortured, and killed, as well as those who have suffered injuries or limb damage as a result of the coup and violence, will be an irreplaceable loss for education,” he added.