Yangon hotbed of protest reopens to undergraduates
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Yangon University was to accept undergraduates for the first time since 1996, when the campus was closed due to political activism, officials said yesterday.
The university was re-opened to postgraduates a few years after authorities closed it for being a launching pad for student-led protests against the former military junta, but bachelor’s courses have been unavailable ever since.
“This academic year we will offer full-time bachelor degrees for 19 subjects including political science,” said Hla Swe, head of the university’s training department.
The move comes as Myanmar has embarked on dramatic political reforms under the leadership of elected President Thein Sein, an ex-general who came to power in March, 2011.
“We have changed our policy as a first step towards regaining our position as a top university in Southeast Asia,” Hla Swe said.
Yangon University, formerly called Rangoon College, has a long history of political activism, first directed against the British colonial rule that ended in 1948 and later against the military dictatorships that ruled Myanmar between 1962 to 2010.
The Yangon campus was closed completely for several years after 1996, before resuming post-graduate courses.
