More universities across Myanmar join protest
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A series of protests against the National Education bill were kicked off at universities across the country, as a group of students are marching from Mandalay to Yangon.
From January 22 to 26, members from All Burma Students Union, so-called Ba-Ka-Tha, carried out various activities in protest against the education bill at Dagon University in Yangon and started mobilising participants. Anti-education bill leaflets were distributed at the university.
"I major in zoology,” said a student in Yangon who joined the protest. “In our class, there are 60 students. Once, during our lab test, we performed surgical operations on two snake-headed fish as they (the university authorities) cannot arrange one fish for one student. This is just a small example. Without research and practice, our education is nothing," he said.
Besides protests at universities in Yangon, students' unions have reportedly organised protests in other towns such as Myingyan, Kalay and Dawei.
The education bill, passed by parliament late last year, sparked criticisms from education experts and students. They said that the bill gives the National Education Commission excessive power, paving way for extreme centralisation which would hurt the education system. They also demanded an increase in education budget by 20 per cent.
The current protest was initiated by a group of students in Mandalay, who started their 500-odds-km march to Yangon.
It was learnt that along the way the students were welcomed with garlands and served refreshments.
Colonel Aung Kyaw Moe, the minister for security and border affairs, has said the protest broke section 18 but the students continued their march under the authorities’ observation.
“The protest has gained speed. The students and people feel the same. The students are really children of the people. Parents do not want to see their children walking in the sun. We see some parents crying along our way. Residents welcome us,” said a student demonstrator Than Sin.
Protest leader Min Thway Thit added that supporters agree on three things.
“The first is that the people are subjected to the government’s unfair acts. For that reason, the people support any organisation that dares to oppose the government. The second point is that education concerns the entire country. The people understand after a little explanation. We have no jobs after graduation. The third point is that students have valued the truth in successive eras throughout our history.”
The students have passed the first 100 kilometres.
