12 May 2026 By Ko Myo
YANGON, Myanmar — The Myanmar military has begun a controversial campaign to recruit children from the country’s poorest families into military-run schools, a move critics describe as a desperate attempt to bolster its dwindling ranks through long-term indoctrination.
Local administration officials in Yangon are reportedly being pressured to find candidates for the newly established “Military Youth Education Schools” in Hlegu Township. Sources within the police force suggest that due to a complete lack of voluntary interest—even from military and police families—the junta is now focusing on the most vulnerable socioeconomic groups.
“The primary target is families struggling to survive,” a police source told MPA. “The military is offering free education and a monthly allowance of 50,000 Kyats ($12). While it is branded as high school education, the reality is that these students are being groomed to become soldiers immediately upon graduation.”
The initiative, announced on 8 May by military official Ye Win Oo, plans to open several such schools in Yangon and Naypyidaw for the 2026-2027 academic year. Although the junta claims these schools provide “educational opportunities,” observers warn of a more sinister motive.
“Based on past experiences, only a tiny handful of high-achieving students will be sent to military universities. The vast majority will simply be funnelled into the infantry,” the source added. “It’s a long-term strategy to raise a generation that is loyal only to the military.”
Local ward and village administrators have been ordered to compile lists of eligible children. There are growing fears that if voluntary quotas are not met, the authorities may resort to forced recruitment or “press-ganging” children from the streets or orphanages.
The military junta is currently facing its most significant manpower crisis since the 2021 coup, following massive casualties on multiple frontlines and the widespread evasion of its national conscription law. By targeting children with the promise of food and schooling, rights groups argue the regime is violating international standards regarding child protection and the militarization of education.
For many parents in Yangon’s impoverished outskirts, the offer of a “free education” has become a terrifying dilemma: a choice between starvation or handing their children over to the very institution that has plunged the nation into civil war.
