High tuition fees burden parents in Mon State

July 30, 2025

HURFOM: Mon State’s Basic Education system relies on tuition fees, which have risen significantly this academic year. Parents now face a major financial barrier in providing education for their children.

Monthly tuition fees for grades 1 to 10 cost between 50,000 to 150,000 MMK and monthly fees for grades 11 and 12 range from 80,000 to 150,000 MMK. Differences in fees are dependent on the location of townships, according to the students’ parents.

“We’re hired laborers at the rubber plantations. We have no job during the rainy season. The school and tuition fees of my children are costly. My son is in Grade 12 and his tuition fee costs 70,000 or 80,000 MMK monthly. It becomes a problem as we have no job. Now, we’re searching for another job to have income,” said a parent.

If students in grades 11 and 12 want to join “private high schools” in Mon State, the monthly cost rises to five or seven million MMK, according to a student’s parent in Thanbyuzayat Township.

“My son is in Grade 11. I can’t send him to private schools. Just his tuition fee alone amounts to 50,000 MMK a month. We’re struggling to cover his tuition fee and our household costs,” said another parent.

Ever since the attempted coup, the dropout rate has increased year after year due to political and military crises and high commodity prices.

Before the 2021 coup, the monthly tuition fees for the basic education students cost under 40,000 MMK.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News