Myanmar junta pledges education reform as international funding falls far short of humanitarian needs

International funding for education in Myanmar has covered only nine percent of what humanitarian planners say is needed for the current year, according to data published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) on 30 June — the least-funded sector in Myanmar’s 2026 humanitarian response, and the lowest coverage rate across all clusters at a time when President Min Aung Hlaing has pledged to raise education spending by up to 20 percent over his five-year term. Of the $123 million required for education under Myanmar’s 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP), only $11.9 million had been received as of 30 June, leaving $111 million unmet, the data showed. The HNRP is a coordinated international framework that tracks funding pledged and delivered for humanitarian response to the crisis in Myanmar. The shortfall follows a situation brief published by ISP-Myanmar on 23 June, which found that more than 6.3 million school-age children and young people were out of school for the 2026–2027 academic year, representing roughly half of Myanmar’s estimated school-age population of 13 million. The same brief found that the number of students sitting matriculation exams had fallen from over 900,000 in 2020 to roughly 250,000 this year, and that schools run by ethnic armed organisations and the opposition National Unity Government faced continued disruption from ongoing military operations. Across all sectors, Myanmar’s 2026 HNRP is 43 percent funded. Of the $890 million required under the plan, $387 million had been received, leaving a total unmet gap of $503 million, the UNOCHA data showed. The United States was the largest single donor at $140 million, followed by the European Commission’s humanitarian arm ECHO at $57 million and Japan at $43 million. The data covers funding tracked by the UN Financial Tracking Service as of 30 June. Among the other sectors, food security had received 38 percent of its required funding, health 46 percent, and protection 52 percent. The shelter, non-food items, and camp coordination and camp management cluster had received 11 percent of its requirements, and nutrition 19 percent. Multi-purpose cash assistance, which supports displaced families in meeting basic needs across sectors, had received 23 percent of its required funding. Myanmar has been in civil war since a military coup in February 2021, which displaced millions of people and disrupted access to basic services including healthcare and education. UNOCHA said the $890 million HNRP covers the needs of people requiring humanitarian assistance across the country. The post Myanmar junta pledges education reform as international funding falls far short of humanitarian needs appeared first on ENG.MIZZIMA.COM.