Myanmar: Student leaders blocked from parliamentary hearing on national education law

2015-03-04

Myanmar students shout slogans during a protest march in Letpadan, Myanmar, March 4, 2015. AFP

Six student leaders from a protest group calling for educational reform in Myanmar will not be able to join a parliamentary hearing on amendments to the nation's controversial education law on Thursday, while a regional police chief has pledged not to violently crack down on the protestors.

The half dozen student leaders from the Democracy Education Initiative Committee (DEIC) as well as representatives from the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABSFU) cannot leave the town of Letpadan, about 140 kilometers (86 miles) north of the commercial capital Yangon, where police are preventing students from continuing a cross-country protest march, to attend the 10-day parliamentary hearing.

"Representatives from the ABSFU will not be able to join this hearing because we are staying with the protesting students and are blocked in Letpadan by the police," said Phyo Phyo Aung, general secretary of the ABSFU central executive committee.

The hearing will include government representatives, lawmakers, and 20 members of the Network for National Education Reform (NNER) – an organization consisting of educational, political and religious groups. They will be joined by nine members of the DEIC, representatives from political parties, civil society organizations, and those who submitted suggestions for amending education law, she said.

Some students have been on a hunger strike since Tuesday after riot police formed a human chain around them to stop them from continuing their protest march against the education law, which students say restricts academic freedom.

Police charged about 60 Letpadan residents and some members of a student union on Tuesday for not getting official permission to support student protestors in the town, Moe Hlaing, a local resident who was charged, told RFA's Myanmar Service. He did not provide further details.

The ongoing standoff prompted supporters in major cities to urge authorities to avoid a violent crackdown on the students.

On Wednesday, Nanda Win, a regional deputy police chief, said police did not intend to use force against the protestors.

"We want to solve a problem through discussion according to democratic means," he said. "We haven't used any weapons. We've just employed our forces around the protesting students as part of our duty. We just divided off a place for the students so that nobody could harm them."

Letpadan residents join in

More than 200 Letpadan residents have joined the protest in support of the students and their eight demands, which include freedom to continue their protest march to Yangon, where they plan to hold a final demonstration before dispersing.

"We support the eight points that the students have asked for, but we can't see the students," said one Letpadan resident who declined to be named. "That's why we've added one more demand – to let us see the students. There are a lot of local residents outside the students' protest area."

Other protesters in Yangon and Taunggyi in central Myanmar have called on authorities to allow the students to continue their march to Yangon.

The Shan State Student Union and Kayah (Karenni) State Student Union released a joint statement on Wednesday saying that some of their members would join and collaborate with main student protest group.

"We are protesting today and demanding that there be no violence and that the protesting students from main group in Letpadan be allowed to go to Yangon," said Win Naing Oo, secretary of the Shan State Student Union.

"These students will go to Yangon peacefully. We believe there will not be any problems because of the student march."

Khun Ye Min Kyaw, president of the Kayah (Karenni) State Student Union, said his organization supports the students because they have called for educational instruction in the ethnic minority languages.

"There is a [stipulation] for the right to study in our own ethnic languages in the new education draft law," he said. "This education law is for all ethnic people in this country. All ethnic people must support amending this law."

The students began their march on Jan. 20, calling for a decentralized education system, changes to university entrance exam requirements, modernization of the national syllabus, the right to form student unions, and instruction in the country's ethnic minority languages.

For now, students are waiting until the outcome of the parliamentary hearing to decide whether to continue protesting.

"We are waiting for the result from parliament," said Phone Myat Moe from Mon State Student Union. "If we don't get the result that we want, we will protest stronger again with more students."

Reported by Kyaw Thu, San Maw Aung, Khun Yazar, Khet Mar, Kyaw Zaw Win and Thin Thiri for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

Link to original story on RFA website