29 students, who escaped from Myanmar following military coup, to appear for Mizoram board exams

A total of 29 boys and girls, who had fled Myanmar along with their parents in the face of atrocities last year and taken refuge in Mizoram, are set to appear in the state board examinations for Classes 10 and 12 later this month, a minister said. Mizoram Education Minister Lalchhandama Ralte told PTI that 27 students have registered for the Class 10 examination and two for the Class 12 test.

He said the students had taken refuge in south Mizoram’s Siaha district and Champhai district in the eastern part of the state bordering Myanmar.

Thousands of Myanmar nationals, who escaped from the Southeast Asian nation since the military seized power in February last year, have been taking shelter in community halls, schools and relief camps set up by NGOs and villagers in different parts of Mizoram.

The Mizoram Board of School Education (MBSE) will conduct the examinations for Class 10 on February 28 and the tests for Class 12 on March 1 – via the offline mode.

Ralte said the state government had earlier issued a notification allowing children of Myanmar nationals to register for the board examinations. ”We decided to give these students a chance, as we don’t want to see their careers getting jeopardised because they were displaced. We have to assist them at least on humanitarian grounds,” he said.

According to an official of the school education department, over 1,000 children from Myanmar are now enrolled in Mizoram schools in different classes.

Most of the Myanmar nationals, who fled to the state, belong to the Chin community, which shares ethnic ties with the Mizos, officials said.

Six Mizoram districts – Champhai, Siaha, Lawngtlai, Serchhip, Hnahthial and Saitual – share a 510-km-long international border with Myanmar’s Chin state.