The Government of Japan, under its Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) Scheme, has granted US$ 386,929 for

1) The Project for Construction of No.1 Basic Education Post Primary School in Sidoktaya Township, Magway Region (US$ 106,888);
2) The Project for Construction of Awnn Village Basic Education Post Primary School in Sidoktaya Township, Magway Region (US$ 93,806);
3) The Project for Construction of Thanse Village Basic Education Branch Middle School in Sidoktaya Township, Magway Region (US$ 89,663); and
4) The Project for Construction of Auk Yin Village Basic Education Primary School in Kanpetlet Township, Chin State (US$ 96,572).

The above 4 projects are to assist the schools out of 493 flood affected schools requested by the Government of Myanmar to the Government of Japan for the reconstruction and rehabilitation.

The handover ceremonies of new school buildings for 4 projects took place in Sidoktaya and Kanpetlet Townships on 23, 24 and 25 January 2018, respectively. Mr. Yumeto ITO, Second Secretary of the Embassy of Japan, U Tun Tun Win, Member of Magway Region Hluttaw elected for Sidoktaya Township Consistency No.2, the officials from Education Department of Magway Region and Chin State, committee chairpersons, committee members of the construction projects, and local residents attended the ceremonies.

Since No.1 Basic Education Post Primary School is located on the lowland; the school had long faced the threat of floods. In July 2015, the school building was hit by the river flood and seriously damaged. Due to the lack of the school building, all the students were studying in congested classrooms of this damaged building. In order to provide a secure learning environment, the Government of Japan has provided funding for construction of a two-storey Reinforced Concrete Construction (R.C.C.) building with 6 classrooms and full furniture. The project benefits 196 students of the school.

The school building of Awnn Village Basic Education Post Primary School completely collapsed due to the flood in 2015. Although the new school building was constructed, the number of proper classrooms was insufficient. Therefore, the students of 5 grades had to study in a hall-type classroom. In order to provide an appropriate educational environment, the Government of Japan has provided funding for construction of a one-storey R.C.C. building with 4 classrooms and full furniture. The project will benefit 60 students of the school.

In Thanse Village Basic Education Branch Middle School, the flood in July 2015 had submerged 3 school buildings under 20 feet of water and one of them almost fell down. Consequently, some of the students were studying in a temporary building with exposure to wind and rain. In order to tackle the issue, the Government of Japan provided funding for construction of a one-storey R.C.C. building with 6 classrooms and full furniture. The project will benefit 193 students of the school.

Since Auk Yin Village Basic Education Primary School is located on the junction of 2 rivers, the school had long faced the threat of floods. The school building was washed away by the flood in 2015. Therefore, all the students had to study in a neighboring church without proper partition and furniture. In order to provide a secure learning environment, the Government of Japan provided funding for construction of a one-storey R.C.C. building with 3 classrooms, full furniture and lavatories. The project benefits 40 students of the school.

Japan has experienced many natural disasters in the past. Accordingly, Japan has learnt the lessons from the past disasters and introduced the concept "Build Back Better" worldwide. "Build Back Better" is to reconstruct our society after a disaster, much better and stronger than before a disaster in order to reduce potential disaster risks. Based on this concept, the new school buildings which have provided under the GGP scheme, have stronger structure than flood affected buildings.

The Government of Japan has assisted 842 various grass-roots projects in Myanmar under the GGP scheme since 1993: the number consisting of 414 education projects, 200 healthcare projects, 139 public welfare and environment projects, 54 infrastructure projects and 35 other projects. It is anticipated that these assistances will further strengthen the existing friendly relations between Japan and Myanmar.