Myanmar junta reopens schools as teachers, students resist call to return to classrooms

Name: Students protest in Myanmar against junta’s order to reopen schools
Uploaded: 2021-06-01T04:35:09.000Z
Duration: 1 min 32 s
Description: Students protest in Myanmar against junta’s order to reopen schools

The junta insisted schools open on Tuesday after a year’s absence because of Covid-19, but many educators had already decided they would stay away

Meanwhile, the military has used artillery and helicopters against anti-junta militias in the country’s east, eyewitnesses said, forcing residents to flee

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Protesters in school graduation gear take part in a demonstration in Yangon earlier this year against Myanmar’s military coup. Photo: AFP

Agence France-Pressein Yangon

Published: 12:35pm, 1 Jun 2021Updated: 10:19pm, 1 Jun 2021

Schools in Myanmar opened on Tuesday for the first time since the military seized power, but teachers and students were set to defy the junta’s calls for full classrooms in a show of resistance.

Four months of national turmoil have followed the February ousting of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, with more than 800 people killed by security forces and a nationwide strike crippling the economy, as the military fights anti-junta militias on several fronts and struggles to impose order.

Public school teachers – dressed in the green and white uniforms mandated by the education ministry – were prominent in the early mass protests, joining railway workers, doctors and civil servants on the streets.

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Students protest in Myanmar against junta’s order to reopen schools

The junta insisted schools open on Tuesday after a year’s absence because of Covid-19, but many educators had already decided they could not return to a job they love.

“I’m not afraid of their arrest and torture,” said Shwe Nadi, a teacher from the commercial capital whose name has been changed for her safety. “I’m afraid of becoming a teacher who teaches the students propaganda.”

The 28-year-old was fired for supporting the civil disobedience movement – one of the thousands of teachers and academics the junta has sacked.

“Of course, I feel bad losing my job because I loved being a teacher. Although it is not well paid, we have our pride for being teachers as others respect us,” she said.