Ruthless and inhumane terrorist attacks on educational facilities, innocent teachers, staff, and students are strongly condemned.

KNPP/KNDF and PDF terrorists launched de­structive actions tak­ing shelter in houses, religious buildings, and health and edu­cational infrastructures start­ing in December 2021 aiming at deteriorating the government administration mechanism in Kayah State. Moreover, they intentionally attacked Loikaw University, the non-military tar­get, using heavy and small weap­ons, destroying the educational buildings, abducting education staff and students including the rector, deploying them as hu­man shields in the attacks and opening fire taking shelter in the educational buildings of the country. They committed such doings aiming to destroy the fu­ture of the country and continued these inhumane attacks.

Currently, Loikaw in Kayah State has returned to normal due to the concerted efforts of the government and Tatmadaw, and the local ethnic people have returned to their places. Mean­while, the relevant officials con­ducted rehabilitation processes, and the State Administration Council Chairman Prime Minis­ter also instructed to reopen the Loikaw University as quickly as possible so that locals would not lose their learning opportunities.

To implement the directive of the Prime Minister, the coor­dination meeting to repair the damaged buildings of Loikaw University in terrorist attacks was organized in Nay Pyi Taw yesterday.

SAC Secretary General Aung Lin Dwe, Union Ministers, Deputy Ministers and depart­mental officials attended the meeting, and the Kayah State chief minister and Kayah State social affairs minister joined via videoconferencing.

Speaking at the meeting, the SAC secretary said it is known how the global society values education that 15 member states of the United Nations Securi­ty Council adopted Resolution 2601 (2021) that restricts the at­tacks on schools and the use of schools for military purposes. That resolution also condemns the attacks on children, schools, and teachers, urges the conflict parties to protect the right to education in armed conflicts, create the schools as safe places for children, respect the schools as civilian spaces and promote the right to education in armed conflicts.

The Safe Schools Declara­tion also states the commitment to protect students, teachers, schools, and universities from vi­olence and attacks during armed conflicts, protect the right to ed­ucation without fear of violence or attacks, and every teacher, professor, and school administra­tor should be able to teach and research in conditions of safety, security, and dignity. Every uni­versity must be a safe place for students, scholars and experts.

In Myanmar, there is at least one university in each region and state for the students to pursue higher education. There are Loi­kaw University, Technological University, University of Com­puter Studies, Education Degree College and Government Tech­nological Institute in Loikaw, Kayah State.

Moreover, Loikaw Universi­ty offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in science and arts, and faculty members from the main­land serve duties there, and day and distance students also study higher education there.

On 13 and 14 November 2023, KNPP/KNDF and PDF terrorists intentionally attacked the Loikaw University which is not a military target, and arrest­ed the security forces members of the university with excessive force. Due to their attack, the educational facilities of the uni­versity were seriously destroyed