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By Seng Mai Aung, Hyeyeon Park, and Tala Alnasser

This is the second in a series of articles telling the stories of students and teachers in Myanmar who have forged on with education in spite of being displaced from their homes due to the ongoing civil war that is stretching into its fifth year.

Dr. Aung Naing Thu, Pro-Chancellor and Co-founder of Kachin State Comprehensive University

Dr. Aung Naing Thu is the co-founder and pro-chancellor of Kachin State Comprehensive University. His life is one marked by resilience, shaped by hardship, and yet fueled by a deep commitment to education and human rights. He was born in  Dagwin Village, Ho Pin City, in Kachin State, as the fifth of seven siblings. His family’s struggles began early—his father was a drug addict, and his mother left the family. His eldest sister took on the responsibility of raising her younger siblings, working tirelessly to ensure they received an education.

Aung Naing Thu’s eldest brother passed away when they were still in elementary school, and another brother succumbed to drugs in Hpa Kant while trying to provide for the family. Amid these losses, their father, whose health deteriorated, became a monk. Before he passed, his final wish for his children was to become educated. His eldest sister took this responsibility to heart, sacrificing her own ambitions to ensure her younger brothers could continue their schooling. Despite being raised in a broken home, the siblings held tightly to each other through every hardship.

Aung Naing Thu lived in a monastery as an acolyte until the seventh grade. He withstood the mockery of those ridiculing his circumstances and used his experiences as motivation to become educated, empowered, and capable of controlling his own circumstances.  His perseverance paid off when, in 2003, he became a lecturer at Yadanabon University in Mandalay. By 2006, he had moved to Myitkyina University, where he eventually became an associate professor in the geology department.

When the 2021 military coup struck Myanmar, it changed everything. At the time, Aung Naing Thu was managing the men’s dormitory at Myitkyina University, responsible for about 150 university students. Along with his colleague, Dr. Yan Myo Naing, he protected the students and lecturers during the protests. He led chants and participated in demonstrations, making him a focus of the military’s ire. An arrest warrant was issued against him, and one day, security forces surrounded the university, targeting him. However, with the help of his students, he managed to escape, jumping over fences and seeking cover at night under the cover of darkness, narrowly avoiding capture.

He fled to Laiza, arriving on March 27, 2021 — the same day many protesters were killed in Bago. There, he found refuge with other Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) members, but life was far from easy. Compounding a military siege with a world-wide pandemic, isolation permeated the community. With the COVID-19 lockdown, he and his colleagues found themselves not just cooking for their own survival, but for an additional 450 people in their community as well. Despite the hardship, he continued to teach, this time at Alen Bum High School. Devoting his life to serve others, he maintained his commitment to education even as plans for establishing Kachin State Comprehensive University (KSCU) were beginning to take shape.

KSCU started modestly, with little more than a few desks and chairs purchased on loan. Aung Naing Thu and his colleagues, including Dr. Aung Ko Ko Lin and Dr. Yan Myo Naing, often taught distance learning courses because not all faculty could be there in person. Additionally, funding was a constant struggle. Barely getting by, they relied on support from local ethnic leaders and the Kachin Education Foundation, allowing the university to grow. By the second year, KSCU had expanded to include colleges of medicine, nursing, technology, and economics. They now plan to add a college of agriculture in 2025.

The challenges of running KSCU are immense, but the mission is clear. For Aung Naing Thu, KSCU is more than just an educational institution — it is a beacon of hope for students whose futures otherwise seem bleak. He constantly reminds his students that they are significant, that their rights are equal to those of anyone else in the world. Apart from this university many of these students have few options beyond joining the ethnic army, working in low-wage jobs in China, or falling into cycles of addiction or early marriage. KSCU is a harbor amidst the storm.

Aung Naing Thu is determined to give these students more than just an education. He wants to equip them with the confidence and skills to break free from the limitations imposed on them by circumstance. He dreams of sending some of them abroad for exchange programs to open their eyes to a world of possibilities. In his work at KSCU, he sees the power of education not just to transform individual lives but to rebuild a future for a nation in turmoil.

“From the first day of struggle until today, those who stand with the people of Myanmar carry a shared responsibility and a shared hope,” he said. “At KSCU, we welcome every friend who has walked beside us in this journey, and who remains committed to standing with us until freedom is achieved. We invite you to bring your skills, your knowledge, and your heart into our classrooms — to teach, to guide, and to strengthen the spirit of a people who will never give up on their future.”

Despite the hardships Aung Naing Thu has faced, from a broken family to a coup-torn homeland, his story is one of unyielding hope and commitment to a greater cause rooted in the cause of human dignity.

Seng Mai Aung is a Senior Program Officer at the Institute for Global Engagement.
Hyeyeon Park interned at IGE and is a senior at Pepperdine University majoring in Psychology and double minoring in Industrial Organization and Social Work.
Tala Alnasser interned at IGE and is a senior at Brigham Young University majoring in French Studies and Communication with an emphasis on Public Relations and minoring Sociology.