The medical student was showering near his dormitory in the jungles of eastern Myanmar when he heard military jets flying overhead. Wearing only undershorts, he raced to a bomb shelter. But there, he faced another danger: a black snake. Grabbing a stick, he killed it before it could bite him.
“It was terrifying,” said Khuu Nay Reh Win, 21, who was inspired to become a surgeon after working as a rebel army medic. “The fear of dying from a snakebite is as real as the fear of bombs.”
Such is student life at Karenni Medical College, a school founded two years ago in territory controlled by rebel forces. The campus, with classrooms and dorms made of thatched bamboo, was built deep in the jungle by the professors and students themselves.
It is one of 18 small universities, colleges and academies established in rebel-held territory in the four years since Myanmar’s military ousted the country’s civilian leaders and seized power in a coup, according to anti-junta officials in five regions of the country. They lack funds for much-needed equipment and supplies, and their facilities are simple. But the hope is that these schools can help create the foundation for a new democratic society in the country.
“We opened without waiting for the revolution to end because we were concerned that if young people were cut off from education for too long, they might change paths, face delays in their learning and miss out on higher education opportunities,” said Dr. Myo Khant Ko Ko, the founder and president of Karenni Medical College.
Myanmar’s civil war has shattered the rhythms of life in the country. Thousands of people have been killed by the military. Tens of thousands more have been imprisoned. Millions have become refugees in their own country. And the economy lies in ruins.
The anti-junta forces are a loose alliance of disparate groups of armed ethnic minorities that have fought the military for years, and of units formed more recently from the ranks of pro-democracy protesters.
In the past 15 months, ethnic rebel forces have scored numerous victories in the countryside, and anti-junta forces now claim control of more than half the country’s territory, giving rise to optimism among supporters.
But the junta retains control of Myanmar’s major cities and the capital, Naypyidaw, as well as most of the country’s wealth and air power. A clear-cut victory remains elusive for the rebels, who lack significant international support, a steady flow of munitions and, most important, a unified command structure, said Anthony Davis, a Bangkok-based security analyst with the Janes group of military publications.
The 18 schools, which are all located in ethnic rebel territory, are recognized by the shadow National Unity Government, said its deputy minister of education, Sai Khaing Myo Tun. Students pay little or nothing to attend.
Educators are also trying to establish a school system for primary- and secondary-school students, many of whom live in camps for displaced people.
The universities and colleges, with student populations ranging from dozens to the low hundreds, offer degrees in the sciences, liberal arts, agriculture, law, technology, nursing and music, among others. Some have ties to foreign universities and have sent students abroad to study.
To avoid airstrikes, the schools remain as concealed as possible. Some have taken over buildings partly damaged by fighting. Others are tucked away in residential areas or are hidden beneath the jungle canopy.
Some students commute to campus from refugee camps where they live with parents and siblings. Others have enlisted with the rebel forces and attend class when they are not fighting.
One school, the Ta’ang Arts Academy in Shan State, is devoted to ethnic culture and music. Its first class has 27 students. The director, Owm Sa Ngarr, said he hoped to preserve local culture while using music “as a medium for healing the psychological trauma faced by people living in conflict zones.”
The biggest challenge, administrators said, was a lack of funding to buy equipment, pay salaries and improve facilities.
But everyone lives in fear of junta jets and drones.
“Every day, we teach under the constant worry of aerial bombings, listening carefully to the sound of planes and watching the skies anxiously,” said Baby Hsan Chit Su, a founder of (and chemistry professor at) Phanshaw University in Karenni State, a liberal arts college that opened in March.
In the days after the 2021 coup, doctors in Mandalay led walkouts that spurred a nationwide civil disobedience movement. Now, some of them are leading efforts to establish medical schools in rebel-held territory.
Khin Maung Lwin, who resigned in protest from his post as rector of the prestigious University of Medicine, Mandalay, founded the School of Medical Science in Kachin State in 2023 and recruited professors who participated in the civil disobedience movement.
The school, with about 100 students, was forced to shut down twice when bombs began falling nearby. The professors and students moved temporarily to a safer area near the Chinese border, where the students helped care for the injured.
“Many of these students have gained significant hands-on experience in treating trauma,” Dr. Khin Maung Lwin said.
Nelly Phoe, 22, who plans to become a surgeon, is typical of many students at the medical school in Karenni State, the second one to open.
Her family’s home was destroyed by junta artillery. Her mother and a younger brother live in a refugee camp. Two older brothers are soldiers in the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force.
But her life is not easy at the jungle medical school.
A giant snake once slithered near her pillow while she was sleeping. Sometimes, because of inadequate facilities, she bathes in a pond where cows drink. When drones and jets fly overhead, she quickly interrupts her studies, turns off her light and flees to a bomb shelter.
And if snakes and air raids were not enough, she and other students must contend with local cattle that wander onto campus and eat their laundry. A veterinarian from the region said the cows may have developed an appetite for soap because their diet lacks salt.
Mr. Khuu Nay Reh Win, the student who encountered the snake in the bomb shelter, said the cows had eaten all but one shirt and his school-issued medical scrubs.
“I’ve lost more than 10 shirts to the cows,” he said.
