Teachers struggle to teach in Myanmar

A woman teacher and 10-year veteran of the profession, who did not want to be named, was clearly frustrated. "I find it harder to control the class," she admitted outside the makeshift school of 50 primary-age children in cyclone-affected Kunchankone, one of the worst-hit townships in Myanmar's Yangon Division.

Two months after Cyclone Nargis struck, leaving more than 138,000 dead or missing, teachers are seeing first-hand the problems children face in returning to their studies. Almost half her students show signs of difficulty concentrating on their lessons. "They don't seem to hear or respond to my questions very often in class," the teacher said.

While playing outside, some of the children rush back into the makeshift school of bamboo and plastic sheeting at the slightest sight of a dark cloud or hint of rain. "I don't know how to help them," the teacher said. According to Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Bangkok, "One of the best ways to help children to return to normalcy is to get them back into the classrooms." Read more of their plight at IRIN News online.