Myanmar nurses graduate from secret jungle school amid drone threats and airstrikes

What happened

The Guardian Myanmar reports that 21 nursing students recently graduated from a secret three-year degree program conducted in a jungle setting to evade surveillance by the Myanmar military junta. These students trained amid spy drones, airstrikes, roadblocks, and internet blackouts, preparing to provide medical care to displaced civilians and pro-democracy fighters who cannot safely access government-run hospitals.

The central claim remains unconfirmed in the supplied material and should be treated as hearsay until corroborated by another reliable source or a named official. This underground health system developed after the February 2021 coup, which crushed a pro-democracy uprising and escalated into civil war. The UN estimates that 18.6 million people in Myanmar require humanitarian assistance, with 3.2 million internally displaced and over 55,000 civilian buildings destroyed. More than 200,000 have fled abroad. Nurses and doctors have shifted from peaceful protest support to establishing secret clinics to treat casualties where government healthcare is inaccessible.

The nursing degree, called the Phoenix Bachelor of Nursing Science, consists of 58 modules delivered via pre-recorded lectures from international academics, supplemented by practical teaching under hazardous conditions including bomb threats and lacking basic resources. The project emerged with input from the UK’s Royal College of Nursing and relies on adaptive learning methods such as smuggled video classes due to ongoing internet disruptions and military censorship.

Known from the source

• 21 students graduated this week from a three-year underground nursing degree program in Myanmar.
• The program was conducted secretly in jungle locations to avoid surveillance by military junta spy drones and airstrikes.
• The degree covers 58 modules of nursing curriculum, supported by international academic video lectures and practical sessions.
• The nursing school is part of a parallel secret health system treating displaced people and pro-democracy fighters unable to access government hospitals.
• Since the February 2021 coup, at least 18.6 million people in Myanmar require humanitarian assistance and 3.2 million are internally displaced, per UN estimates.

What remains unclear

Training takes place in makeshift jungle classrooms with limited shelter and clean water. Medications and medical supplies face severe shortages due to junta blockades, complicating even basic treatment like pain relief. The graduates, many of whom joined the opposition Civil Defence Movement, view their work as essential to both health care delivery and the pro-democracy cause.

What remains unclear: Confirm whether the central claim is corroborated; until then treat it as unconfirmed/hearsay. Exact locations and security conditions of the secret nursing school. Verification of junta airstrikes and drone activity affecting the school and associated clinics. Current accuracy of displacement and humanitarian assistance figures from the UN cited in the article.

Evidence note

This story contains report-led claims. The article keeps those claims attributed and treats them as unconfirmed/hearsay unless independently corroborated.

Original source: The Guardian Myanmar. Open the source.