Ooredoo Myanmar has donated 100 million kyats (1,000 lakhs) to build a new school building at Aung Mye Chan Thar monastic education school in Sin Kwin village, Bogale Township, Ayeyarwady Region, to support the education of around 200 children. The donation is the 42nd new school building donated through Ooredoo Myanmar’s “One Kyat Per Minute, We’re Donating” corporate social responsibility programme, under which Ooredoo Myanmar donates one kyat from its revenue for every minute customers spend on Ooredoo-to-Ooredoo calls.
Around 200 students from the surrounding area currently attend Aung Mye Chan Thar monastic education school. Before this school existed, children living in Sin Kwin village had to travel by boat for two hours round-trip to Kyin Khin village just to attend school. To keep children safe from difficult travel conditions, snakes, and other natural hazards while helping them become literate, the school’s abbot, Sayadaw Bhaddanta Kethara, established Aung Mye Chan Thar monastic education school with the support of local parents and donors. Today, the school has produced many students who have continued their studies all the way through graduation.
Sayadaw Bhaddanta Kethara, the abbot of Aung Mye Chan Thar monastic education school, said, “In the past, children had to cross paddy field embankments to reach school on the other side of the village, which exposed them to the risk of snakes and made travel difficult. That’s why we established this school in 2012, so children could study safely. Our school teaches from primary through high school level. Because of space constraints, we couldn’t separate classrooms, so students were often distracted and unable to study across different grade levels at the same time. During the rainy season, the children also had to study while getting soaked by rain. Now that Ooredoo Myanmar has built and donated this new school building, the children will be able to study comfortably, sheltered from the rain. Both the parents and I are overjoyed that the children now have the support they need to reach their educational goals.”
U Tint Naing Htut, Head of Corporate Communications at Ooredoo Myanmar, said, “Families facing social and economic hardship across various communities rely on monastic education schools for their children’s education. These schools, led by senior monks, in turn depend heavily on donations to be able to look after and provide free education to children in need. That’s why Ooredoo is donating the essential infrastructure these important monastic education schools need to support children’s education in underserved communities. We will continue to provide effective support wherever it’s needed for the education, health, and social development of the people of Myanmar.”
Ooredoo Myanmar’s “Minutes You Talk, Ooredoo Donates” programme, which is dedicated to supporting the education and social development of underserved communities across Myanmar, was first launched in September 2017 and was relaunched on 1 July 2023 as the “One Kyat Per Minute, We’re Donating” programme. Including this latest donation, Ooredoo Myanmar has now donated 42 school buildings in total.