Kyaw Phone Kyaw

Rangoon (Mizzima) – Forty-one schools in Pathein [Bassein] Township, a flood-stricken area in Irrawaddy Region, have been closed since Wednesday, due to heavy monsoon rains.

Kyin Thaung, the chief of the township education department, told Mizzima by phone that students would have been forced travel on water or wade to get to schools, and the risk was too great.

She said most of the schools that closed are primary schools. Five middle/high schools also are closed, according to the chief of the township education department.

Only three out of 15 quarters in Pathein Township have not been affected by the flood, Thet Naung, a relief worker, told Mizzima.

Kyin Thaung, the chief of the township education department, said that school officials are trying to institute special programmes for students who cannot attend schools during the rains.