Edu2004_feb2005 Complete Set

TEXT VERSION OF THE YEAR 2004 EDUCATION REPORT FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE ALL BURMA FEDERATION OF STUDENT UNIONS ISSUE ON FEB 2005:

============================================================== CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCATION 1. Introduction to Current Education In September 1988, the military regime, in Burma, proclaimed a transitional authority that would pave a path towards a multiparty democracy system, in the country. At the time, the regime made it clear that the education issue in Burma would be an issue handled by an elected civilian government. The regime meanwhile closed down the universities while the military retained power until a civilian government was installed. Elections were called for in 1990. However, the regime totally ignored the results of these democratic elections, and started to make a number of changes in the education system to reinforce military power, in the country, and as a consequence the quality of education suffered at the hands of the regime. In 1993, a National Education Committee was formed and headed by Secretary 1 to the Military Council, which, at the same time, marginalised the role of professionals and civilian authorities. It was the first attempt to take total control of the education system. Under a slogan of national education, the military government tried to promote the militarization of the school curriculum, while downgrading democratic values and human rights within education. The military government, since 2000, has implemented a ‘Special Four Year Plan’ for the promotion of national education in the higher education sector, as well as, a long-term ‘Thirty Year Education Plan’. Centres for Human Resource Development have been established, throughout the country, which offers undergraduate and postgraduate diplomas and other vocational and professional training courses. Thirteen universities were established, in the post 1988 period, and seventeen others were upgraded, according to government figures, while fifty-one E-Learning centres, one hundred and forty-three computer training centres, forty-nine E-education resource centres, multi-media lectures

rooms, conferences rooms and Computer Aided centres were claimed, by the government, to be functioning. The government also stated that there was access to the email, the Internet, intranet and Video Conferencing systems, as VSAT Networks, had been installed in fifty-six locations in education departments, universities and colleges. In spite of these plans and arrangements, the quality of education is suffering, as many international institutions do not recognize the standards applied in the universities and colleges. The lack of constructive infrastructures, the failure to support critical thinking in students, ignoring the role of scholars and professionals, the absence of academic freedom and rights, a corrupted system, and the mismanagement by the military authority in the education sector, has all led to a totally unqualified education system. Nevertheless, the regime promotes military institutions with a quality of education, and with extremely good facilities. At a graduation parade, of the Seventh Intake of the Defense Services Technological Academy, Senior General Than Shwe said1: “the graduating cadets would have to strive as the human resources for building a developed nation while further promoting the science and technology sector of the Tatmadaw (army)”, adding as the saying goes, “the taller the person, the longer his shadow…the task to build an industrial nation would be swifter and speedier, only when they tried to enhance their ability.” It is clear that the regime is attempting a long-term strategy for military rule in the country, while discriminating against people particularly in the education sector, at the same time, ‘The Tamadaw (army) is only the father and mother of the people’ is the slogan that people see. Teachers, within the system, earn low salaries and receive poor and unqualified teachertraining. In rural areas in particular, teachers also work in part time jobs so they cannot focus on teaching. As a way of solving teacher problems, some local authorities force local people to pay the salaries of teachers. One example was in Mon State, in September 2004, (see Chapter 3). As a consequence many teachers migrate across the border. Academic rights and freedom are still under the strict control of the military. Every seminar and academic meeting, for instance, is not independent, as military officers are appointed in

1

“Strive for improvement of science and technology”, Perspective, The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, Sunday, 26thDecember, 2004.

every office of a civil institution, as well as, in educational institutions. Only military sponsored academic seminars are allowed and papers are required to be submitted in advance to the preparatory committee of the seminars, where military officers are in attendance. Burmese scholars are afraid of being arrested or tortured or even dismissed from their positions and criticism of economic, social and political policy is a nail in someone’s coffin. The All Burma Federation of Student Unions has frequently released information on the education situation in Burma, and we have issued two education reports in 2001 and 2003. We have described the real situation of students and the failing education system from a student perspective. Several issues, such as, free education at a primary level, the school curriculum, student’s ideas on education and ethnic concerns, the teaching and learning system, discrimination in education, student rights and academic freedom have all been raised in those reports. Nevertheless, by 2004, the situation had not improved. In this report, which will cover the situation throughout 2004, we will focus on four major issues: (1) The high dropout rates in schools. (2) The quality of education. (3) Education in ethnic areas. (4) Student Rights. We also believe there is a need for more international awareness of the present education policies, in order to put pressure on the military government. There is a requirement for the government to fulfill the needs of the people by reforming the system. Furthermore, we the All Burma Federation of Student Unions call on international institutions, the United Nations (UNESCO and UNICEF) and governments for full cooperation and support in helping develop the education system in Burma. We request these bodies to work closer with, or make strategic consultations with, the democratic forces and independent student unions and not only with the military regime. We strongly believe that only a democratic society and good government can make substantive changes for the required education reforms, in the country. In this report, we collected and searched data, especially from students, professional papers and reports from international institutions, as well as, information from the independent media and from ABFSU units inside Burma. For security reasons, some interviews and data are not detailed in the report. Taking into account the data and the number of sources, the ABFSU decided that the key four issues above should be discussed, debated and acted upon.

We also believe that these issues are real and are needed to gain the attention of the military government and the international community as a whole. Awareness and words are not enough in the struggle for change. It is action that is required in real change.

============================================================== CHAPTER TWO: HIGH DROPOUT RATES IN SCHOOLS 2. High dropout rates “States Parties… shall take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools and the reduction of drop-out rates” Article 28 Paragraph 1(d) of the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child Throughout history, the peoples of Burma have respected education. Parents have always sent their children to Monastic schools, on reaching school age, and the education was always private and free for all Burmese children. Then, when military rule took over most of the Monastic schools were abolished or were banned by the state. The new regime accused this system of education of being both inadequate and unqualified. In addition, the public education system, which had been the only formal education system recognized by the state, in practice, could not fulfil the programmes of free primary education and an acceptable higher education structure. At the same time, the new regime dismantled all forms of civil society within the country. The current regime, which seized state power in 1988, claims to have implemented a proper education programme that is accessible to all, in collaboration with some international nongovernmental organizations (NGO’s) and several United Nations' agencies. According to figures shown by the present regime, which calls itself the “State Peace and Development Council”, the school enrolment rate, in 2002-2003, was 93.1% at the primary school level, 40% at the secondary school level and 96.5% in the transition rate from secondary to tertiary level. The percentage of pupils completing primary school, during this period, was 63.8% and the percentage of pupils completing at the secondary level was just over 64%. The report also pointed out that the average percentage of dropouts, at the primary level, was 7.2%, for the period. Nevertheless, the report was to raise concerns in the 36th Session of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) about the validity of such figures.

The reality, from our own sources and reports from several international institutions, is the major problem of the high dropout rates of students in schools, particularly in the case of primary education. In February 2004, for instance, UNESCO released a statistical report, which raised concerns about the high dropout rate of children in Asia as a whole. In the report, it stated; “In India, the Lao People's Democratic Republic and Myanmar (Burma), only half of children who enter primary school will reach grade five, indicating a dropout rate of 53 percent, 47 percent and 45 percent respectively.” According to our own data from inside Burma, particularly in rural and ethnic areas, few children can enrol for primary education and nearly half of those who enrol do not finish primary education. This issue is a major concern, within the education system. In papers released twice a year by the ABFSU on education, we have always mentioned our concerns about the student dropout rate, both at the primary and higher levels of education. Unfortunately, the situation has not improved although the regime always claims that there has been significant progress made in education. We have come to the conclusion that the present ruling government needs to accept certain realities, as well as nurture a political will for genuine and substantive educational reforms, in order to access proper education for all. The present so-called programmes are, on the surface, just superficial changes for the international community, and the people of Burma know only to well about the effectiveness of these educational programmes. They realize too that they are just government propaganda programmes for public support and are of no benefit to the people and the state, in general. 2.1. No free education at the primary level: a high educational cost Free compulsory primary education in a society is essential in order to improve children lives. This is especially in the case of Burma where most people have a low subsistence income. Free and compulsory primary education should be a priority in saving and improving lives. The UNCRC clearly states that State parties shall make primary education compulsory and free and available to all2.

2

This is in Article 28, Paragraph 1(a) of the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

Burma became a party to the UNCRC, in August 1991, after signing the Convention on 16thJuly 1991. Child Law in Burma became legal, in 1993. In Child Law, Section 20 states that; “Every child shall have the right to free basic primary education in state schools and that the Ministry of Education shall implement a system of free and compulsory primary education. According to Section 20(b) of the Law, the Ministry of Education shall implement measures as may be necessary to ensure regular attendance at schools, to reduce drop-out rates, and make arrangements for children, who are unable for various reasons, to attend schools opened by the state.” Although free primary education must be granted to all children in Burma, in accordance with Session 20(a) of National Child Law and Article 28 of the UNCRC, which has been signed by the government, it has not generally been made available. Students have had to pay increasingly high tuition costs and school related fees, and these have to be paid by the parents, who find it extremely difficulty. As a consequence, the student dropout rate in primary education is steadily increasing. Only students up to the 4th Grade do not need to pay monthly tuition fees, but they must pay for other school related costs and forced donations. In June 2004, the start of the 2004-05 school years, the enrolment fees for a pupil stood at between 5,000-8,000 Kyats in the rural areas and between 10,000-14,000 Kyats in the urban cities3. A parent from Pegu Division said that he had paid 6,000 Kyats to the school authorities when his son enroled at school, but he had also been given another bill of fees for 300 Kyats. Parents as a result must pay for extra costs beside the enrolment fees, which involves paying more taxes and giving more contributions, for example, forced donations to the local education administration and to government sponsored organizations. To enter some of the more respectable schools4 in Rangoon, for instance, parents need to pay between 400,000-600,000 Kyats to headmaster, while teachers need to pay money to the education administration in order to get a position in the schools. In this way, corruption is quickly brought into the system. Beside their enrolment fees, students need to pay their monthly school tuition fees and other expenses, for example, fees for text books, multi-media classrooms, school materials, sport

3

The cost varies between different schools and local areas.

4

Interview with a teacher from Rangoon (Yangon).

fees, membership fees for the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA)5 and donations for local social events, and these are all payable to the schools and local authorities. Most parents are not in an economic position to pay these extra costs and it becomes a big financial burden upon families. In rural areas especially, there are not enough teachers, and local residents have to bear the financial burden as well as the responsibility for hiring new teachers and school furniture when it is required. It can be noted, that compared to the salaries of government staff of between 3,000-4,500 Kyats per month, primary school teachers, in general, receive between 4,700-4,900 Kyats per month. In a number of areas, parents and local residents are forced to take responsibility for the cost of living of a teacher, because government salaries for teachers are not enough. During 2002-2003, in some townships in Araken State, western Burma, local people had to pay for food and shelter for their teachers. Teachers do not want to work in areas where there are low salaries, and where they must live away from the urban areas. As a consequence of the teacher’s stand, when the local authority asked parents for donations they decided to take their children out of the schools because they could not simply afford to pay the donations.

Independent Mon News Agencies (IMNA) June 16, 2003 High education tax during school opening day. Similarly to many other State basic education schools, all schools in Mon State reopened and pupils and parents came to school to register for the new enrolment. The school opening day is late and the teachers this time took more money from them than the previous years, said a parent of one pupil. “Fees for school enrolment, text books, and fees for sports are not so much. Only over 1000 Kyat. But the fees for school repairs and new school buildings are too expensive. They ask from 7000 to 20000 Kyat. They collected more money for new students” said one of the parents from Moulmein to IMNA.

5

The USDA is a regime-sponsored organization formed for alleged political purposes. See the following chapters about this organization.

When IMNA asked a teacher, who would not be identified, why they took more fees from the parents, she said, “We did not receive enough budget from the government for school repairs and new building, and therefore we ask more from the parents. We, teachers, asked for government support, but it was too little. So that we have to ask money from parents. As the building materials have been expensive, therefore, we collect more money from parents”, explained by a teacher to IMNA. Besides the school fees, the parents also have to pay the fees for computer system at schools in both urban and rural areas. The farmers are also forced to pay for this cost. Besides the school fees, the parents have to spend a lot of expenses in putting their children in private tuition arranged by school teachers to pass the final exam. One student have to spend about 100, 000 Kyat for tuition fee for all subjects for the whole year. If he/she needs special tuition teacher, he/she has to pay 10000 Kyat per month for one subject only. Due to expensive school fees, many children left from schools even in the young schooling age. Some students engage in works for income and some also moved to Mon National School, where they don’t have to pay.

As a result, primary school students and their families suffer subsequently from the numerous expenses and taxes. Government assistance towards education, for instance, is significantly less than the military budget. Moreover, the government scheme, the so called “Self-reliance Program”, really hurts families of primary school students, as it freezes or fades out “free primary education”, which in turn reduces government responsibility. The authorities, therefore, do not take measures to ensure that all children can attend primary school. “Free education at a primary level” is just a slogan of the government and one of the many pretexts in the present era. 2.2. The Government’s obligation to reduce high dropout rates According to Article 28, paragraph 1(e) of the UNCRC, the government is obliged to take measures to reduce the dropout rate from schools. However, the allocation of funds is highly

imbalanced and education is desperately under-funded, while the military budget continues to grow. Besides a promise to comply with the legal requirements of international human rights law the government has failed to do so, even though, within a national legal context, the rights to acquire free basic education in schools is laid down by the State. At the same time, national law clearly states that the obligation of state government is to carry out the necessary measures to ensure regular student attendance at schools and a reduction in the dropout rates. This is especially in the case of the Ministry of Education, The government always claims that they have taken action to reduce the dropout rates of students both within the formal and informal education system. Students, for example, can learn part-time in a number of education centres, but these are located in very special areas and there are a limited number found in the country. For these measures, the government relies solely on NGO programmes, where they are given humanitarian funding from foreign governments. Even so, the government does not produce budgets for these government schools. As has already been stated, there is not enough money for government teachers, particularly in rural and remote areas. They have to look for part-time jobs to supplement their earnings and as a result they start increasingly to turn to private classes. Students on the one hand need to attend these classes and pay the private fees, because it is very difficult for them to pass their school exams, as teachers are a key role in passing students to another standard, according to the CAP system. On the other hand, some people have been forced to arrange for extra funding for teachers at the local schools, through raising money from parents. Local government and the education authorities also ask local people to run their own village schools through their own budget. A parent of four children from the southern part of Shan State said that she needed not only to pay monthly school tuition fees for each of her children, but also the private tuition fees of the class teacher, as well as, donations for school repairs, school related dealings, fees for Parents-Teachers Associations and forced donations for local festivals and special events. She could not afford to pay all the costs for three children so she had to withdraw two of her children from the school. She is now an illegally migrant worker living in Thailand, with one of her children aged fourteen years old. Even she respects and values the education of her children, but she can only afford the cost of one child for one year in school, so her children study in a rotating system. There are many cases in the Karen and Karanni refugee camps,

along the Thai-Burma border, where children and parents have fled the country in pursuit of education at the refugee camp schools. These schools are funded by international humanitarian NGO’s and development projects by foreign governments.

Life in Mon State STUDENTS MADE TO PAY HIGHER TUITION FEES (IMNA: June 11, 2003) Higher tuition fee is introduced to schools in Mon State, southern Burma ahead of the new enrollment for the 2003-4-education year. On opening day, students with their parents flock to school; eager to begin classes, but this year they face a higher cost for their education. Teachers are asking for more money than in previous years. “Fees for school enrollment, text books and sports are not so much. It cost over 1,000 Kyat, but fees for school repairs and new school buildings are too expensive. They ask for 7,000 to 20,000 Kyats. They also increase money for new students,” said parents from Moulmein, capital city of Mon State. A schoolteacher, speaking under anonymity due to security, said, “we haven’t received enough of a budget from the government for school repairs and new buildings. Building materials are expensive. We (teachers) ask the government for support, but receive too little, so we have to ask more money from the parents to cover the costs”. Besides school entrance fees, the parents also have to pay for computer maintenance at schools in both the urban and rural areas. The local farmers are also forced to pay for this cost. Parents, with little money to spare, pay out most of their money to cover the cost of education for their children, private tuition being the only way for a student to pass the final exam. A student spends about 100, 000 Kyat for tuition fees for all subjects for the whole year. A special tuition fee costs about 10,000 Kyat per month for one subject only.

Having exorbitant school fees to pay, families pull their children out of school at a young age reported a community worker. Later on, some will either end up as migrant laborers or work at small jobs in their community to earn extra income, while some will have the opportunity to transfer to Mon National School where there is no charge for schooling.

Corruption at every level of education is a one of the challenges in promoting a free and compulsory primary education in the country. As mentioned above, people have to pay bribery money to schoolteachers, headmasters or local education authorities in order to enrol their children in school and pass the exams. Teachers also need to pay bribery money to education authorities to get jobs at good schools in the cities, while parents need to pay bribery money to schoolteachers for the enrolment of their children to these schools. However, the government is unable to take action against corruption, since corruption is rampant at every level of the state apparatus. It is poverty which is the major impediment for a free and compulsory education system at the primary level. Family incomes are decreasing year by year, and parents are not able to help in the education of their children. Instead, many people have become migrants in neighbouring countries looking for jobs, while children seek work as domestics or work on worksites. The existing government is unable to eradicate poverty and to increase family incomes. At the thirty-sixth session of the UNCRC, the committee released some concluding observations on the situation of children in Burma. “Even though the committee welcomed the launce of the ‘Special Four Year Plan for Education, 2000-2004’ by the government, there were serious concerns about the low quality of education. As part of this ‘Special Four Year Plan’, the government had aimed at promoting basic education, in 2000, and later, in 2003, the “Education for All” National Action Plan, which was aimed specifically on “access, quality and relevance” of education. But these concerns were seen in the high repetition levels and dropout rates in school enrolment between the urban and rural areas. In addition, there were added concerns on the limited time scale of compulsory education, which ended at 4th Grade and the fact that free primary Education was not guaranteed in practice.”

The Committee also pointed out that the majority of schools in the country do not provide an adequate learning environment for children, due in the main to the poor conditions of school buildings, the poor quality of teaching/learning methods, and the shortage of qualified teachers. One of the major recommendations given by the Committee was that there should be free primary education in practice and this should be done by minimizing all the costs borne out by the parents. 2.3. Consequences of high dropout rates One consequence of the student dropout rate in schools is the growth in child soldiers and child labour. According to a report by Human Rights Watch published in 20026, Burma has the largest number of child soldiers in the world and children under 18 years old, for example, represent around 20% of the government forces. The report also stated that the recruiters are often ordinary soldiers who promise the children a good wage and a better life, or prison if they refuse to follow them. There are a total of around 70,000 child soldiers from both the government army side and armed opposition in Burma. According to a number of interviews done with former child soldiers, most were conscripted into the army after dropping-out of school. Most said that they had not found jobs or work easy to come by, so they found it very difficult to survive. The only chose then for uneducated and illiterate children were for them to join the army and the army duly recruited these children. Another growing problem is the increase in street children, who when arrested, are picked up by the army at the police stations.

Human Rights Watch calls for the cessation of child soldiers in Burma DVB : 5 June 2004 New York based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called for an end to the recruitments of child soldiers for the army in Burma. In a recent statement, HRW said that there has been a widespread use of children as soldiers in Burma according to statistics collected by the organization in 2002. Among nearly half a million Burmese soldiers, more than 20% are said to be child soldiers.

6

http://hrw.org/reports/2002/burma/Burma0902.pdf

The spokesperson of HRW, Jo Becker said Burma’s military junta, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) had been violating the international laws guarding the rights of children and it is unacceptable. Children as young as 11 have been kidnapped from the markets, parks, stations and bus terminals by soldiers and threatened with imprisonment if they didn’t join the army.

It is not surprising that many children and parents dismiss the existing education system as not useful. As a consequence, many families migrate to neighbouring countries seeking education or jobs abroad, only to discover that as non-citizens, they are denied education, healthcare, and other social services. Some families in ethnic areas send their children to the refugee camps across the border to attend the schools, who have been set up there. Political instability and internal wars in the ethnic regions are also disrupting the education of children, particularly for ethnic children. The schools run by rebel groups are burnt down constantly by the government forces and at the same time government schools are often harassed by the rebel armed groups. Forced relocation of the local people is another effect on the life of a child as there are no guarantees of schooling, healthcare and other social facilities. Meanwhile, as the villagers do not want to be relocated to other specified sites, they flee and move around, living in the jungle. These children of a displaced population have no access to education at all. According to a report of International Confederation of Trade Unions (ICFTU), the number of internationally displaced persons (IDP), in Burma, is between 600,000 and 1 million. As the army has been trying to empty and control areas inhabited by ethnic army groups, they have asked the local population to leave their villages and relocate to other areas. If villagers do not follow these orders, government forces raze the villages to the ground, including schools, clinics and crop fields, and then torture the villagers. According to one villager from the Karen state, who recently arrived at a refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border, the newly resettlement sites have no schools, insufficient medical facilities and no work, and so they find it very difficult to survive there. This is especially in the case of children, whose future is uncertain, with the constant lack of schooling and the inability to find work.

2.4. Summing Up It is a tradition for Burmese people to deeply respect education and to help and guide their children accordingly. Nevertheless, in line with recent findings and reports, including some international and domestic reports, the student dropout rate in primary schools, in particular, is increasing, though the government claims to have implemented programmes to reduce the dropout rate. The main problem is that, in practice, there is no free primary education, as students up to the 4th Grade must pay for their monthly tuition fees. All students too need to pay the enrolment fees for school related costs, particularly school repairs, school furniture, textbooks, and the multimedia classrooms. Furthermore, they must pay for other extra costs, such as donations to the Parent-Teacher Associations, the Union Solidarity and Development Associations run by the government, as well as, a number of local events. According to national law and the UNCRC, the government is obliged to reduce the student dropout rate in schools and to take the appropriate measures to allow for free primary education. However, the government claims that social disruption, including dropping-out of school, is due largely to poor international and humanitarian assistance, while, at the same time, they use a large sum of the national budget on enlarging the army to fight internal wars. The ruling government has also failed to eradicate poverty and to end internal conflicts, which means that many children are driven into the jungle as internally displaced people and as such disrupts their education. The major consequence of student dropout in schools is that they become child soldiers and child labours, while street children are encouraged into the army and the workplace. Furthermore, the right of free education for migrant Burmese children of the displaced and of the migrant population as a whole in neighbouring countries are also violated. In order to reduce the student dropout rate in primary education, the government should allocate more of the national budget towards education and less on the military budget. They also need to take effective workable action to stop the conscription of children into the army and they must plan for the education of former child soldiers. Both international governments and non-state actors should encourage the ruling government to implement a plan for the eradication of poverty and an end to the internal conflicts in the country, which

have had a huge impact on schooling. They must also convince the ruling government that this regime has an obligation to ensure that children have an education. International humanitarian assistance must also be able to reach those people who need it most, instead of the present system of corruption and local government power.

============================================================== CHAPTER THREE: THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION IN BURMA 3. The quality of education From the outset, education is not just about reading or just about writing. Education, in many ways, can promote both social and economic development. As such, the quality of education needs to develop a capacity from awareness to knowledge and then turn it into action. This involves a process of knowing, finding out, acting upon, judgment, as well as, a process of imaging, connecting, values, questioning and making choices. Moreover, in today’s society, it is about a way of developing an aesthetic response to the environment. Quality education, therefore, not only gives knowledge and critical thinking, but a moral obligation by the individual, who can change society in a more peaceful way, while prospering at the same time. A quality of education is a major goal of an education system. At the World Education Forum held in Dakar, Senegal, between 26-28thApril, 2000, the Dakar Framework of Action was adopted by representative governments and non-state actors, including international education institutions and civil society. In the Framework of Action it was pointed out that to ensure that there is a first class system of education around the world, there is a need for “improving all aspects of the quality of education, and ensuring excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, innumeracy and essential life skills.” Paragraph 42 of the action framework emphasized that; “Quality is at the heart of education, and what takes place in classrooms and other learning environments is fundamentally important to future well-being of children, young people and adults. A quality education is one that satisfies basic learning needs, and enriches the lives of learners and their overall experience of living.” The Dakar Framework of Action pointed out that while the government, all non-state actors and institutions must work together to ensure a basic quality of education for all, the

successful education programmes require: (1) healthy, well-nourished and motivated students; (2) well-trained teachers and active learning techniques; (3) adequate facilities and learning materials; (4) a relevant curriculum that can be taught and learned in a local language and builds upon the knowledge and experience of the teachers and learners; (5) an environment that not only encourages learning but is welcoming, gender-sensitive, healthy and safe; (6) a clear definition and accurate assessment of learning outcomes, including knowledge, skills, attitudes and, values; (7) participatory governance and management; and (8) respect for the engagement with local communities and cultures. With respect to the Dakar Framework of Action, we as a student organization have been closely watching the quality of education in Burma. During the 1950s, for instance, Burma's Rangoon University was highly respected, in the south-Asian region, for its quality of education for students. Yet today, we find that the quality of education in universities, in general, is now declining, in the whole country. Many students in Burma today are seeking better education in neighboring countries like Singapore and Thailand. According to a number of interviews done with students, in Burma, nearly all only wanted to graduate with a degree from the university. Most students do not have adequate facilities such as libraries, and there is a shortage of books and most of the time, they have to rely on foreign Embassy libraries. A number of students are dissatisfied with the learning environment, because the atmosphere at university is not conducive with studying. In this chapter, we try to expose the situation in the quality of education in Burma and the damage it is doing to students. 3.1. Teacher Qualifications Inexperienced and unqualified graduate students have had a huge impact on the education system because qualified teachers are nurtured through university, in Burma. The majority of schoolteachers, for instance, graduate from the University of Education. According to one student from that university, students were trained by traditional teaching methods, where the ‘teacher-centre model’ is well established, and creative teaching and learning methods are not encouraged. A number of educational staff and teachers working in the rural and ethnic areas have graduated from the University for Development of National Races, which was established 40 years ago during the military-run socialist regime. The University conducts a Master degree programme in education and philosophy (education), one-year basic education courses, Bachelor degrees in education, a two-year education bridge course, diploma courses for teachers, junior teacher courses, primary teachers courses and special primary teacher

courses7. Even though the primary goal of the University is to help stimulate under-developed areas, and help ethnic people, as well as, unifying the Union. The courses and training of the University, to a large extent, have reinforced a monolithic cultural idea, and by means of force unified the country through military power. The students are also taught how to strengthen the policies and the mechanisms in education of the regime, by military officers. Democratic principles and multi-ethnic cultures are not promoted. The result of all this is that the government’s official education policy, in the rural areas, is a way of promoting military rule through the back door, instead of educating children. The Ministry of Education often conducts various teacher-training courses. Teachers are given military training and they are also trained in how to suppress or restrict students so as to prevent them organizing student demonstrations. As a result, teacher training has nothing do with the promotion of a quality of education. In some areas, teachers are often asked to spy on students on campus and as a consequence there is stricter control on the quality of creative thinking and learning is devalued. Another factor, which has a significant impact on the lives of both teachers and education administrators, is that the official salary is not enough to live on even with limited government assistance. Teachers in the cities, for instance, earn extra money by teaching privately or by taking backhanders from parents who want their children to get good grades in examinations or entrance into prestigious schools8. In rural areas, teachers work part time selling local produce as a way of supplementing their income. As a way of solving these problems, some local authorities are forcing local people to pay the salaries of a teacher. A local commander of Southern Ye Township, Mon State, for example, ordered the village headmen to collect funds for government teachers from September 2004.9 Some teachers, today, migrate to neighbouring countries like Thailand to work as illegal workers because of the low salaries. The upshot of all this is that qualified university teachers, in particular, flee to other countries for a better life. Hundreds of former Burmese university teachers and professors, for instance, are currently working in universities in Thailand. It can be said that professionally and motivated teachers do not get the respect they deserve from the regime.

7

Htay Lwin, ‘UDNR-40 year journey’, The New Light of Myanmar, 20thOctober 2004.

8

Staff and teachers also have to pay backhanders to educational authorities so they can work at those prestigious schools.

9

Villagers taxed to pay teachers' salaries, Kao-Wao News Agency, 8thSeptember, 2004.

Monthly Salary of Teachers (Jan 2004) Primary school teacher: 4500 - 5000 Kyat Middle school teacher: 5000 - 5500 Kyat High school teacher:

5500 - 6000 Kyat

In June 2004, the government no longer offered rice to government staff and paid them 5000 extra-kyat for a cost of living allowance. Teachers, though, said they had to pay other donations for government activities like government-sponsored festivals and building pagodas, so the reality was that teachers were no better off than before.

3.2. Curriculum A relevant Curriculum is another factor in determining a quality of education. In Burma, the drafting curriculum process has been totally controlled by the government. The role of academics and scholars in the process is limited, as the guidelines for drafting the curriculum are strictly given by the military authorities and students have no role in defining their own curriculum. The government often changes the courses to match their policies. Government policies, for example, in foreign affairs and politics reflect on education policy. In the present school curriculum, the military mindset is well established. The curriculum promotes the role of the army as being an important part in unifying and consolidating the entire nation, while they criticise the democratic structures and the role of political parties including independent civil institutions. Furthermore, a monolithic cultural structure has been introduced into the school curriculum, despite Burma being a multi-ethnic country. All the school courses are taught in the Burmese language and even in schools run by the local community or ethnic groups, Burmese is the only language. The system prohibits ethnic languages and prevents the development of the indigenous culture, in the country. There is no relevant curriculum that is taught in a local language, which builds upon the knowledge and experience of the teachers and student. A concept of development in the school curriculum is still not available to support both the environment and basic human values, particularly a human rights culture. In the 2004 academic year, the military government brought in a human rights course into the high

school curriculum, but this course is distorted. The course is about a citizen's duty to respect the law and government, while it does not talk about individual rights or a government’s obligation to fulfill basic rights for its people. The course is also heavily politicised by government policy. 3.3. Adequate and accessible facilities and study material Even though the government always points to the fact that they have set up an increasing number of schools and universities, there is a distinct shortage of adequate facilities and study material. Multimedia classrooms have been introduced, since 1998, but the system is not really accessible to students, just a financial burden on the parents. Students in most high schools are forced to fund the multimedia classrooms. Although these classrooms are only opened when government officials and dignitaries visit the schools, nearly all of these classrooms are closed because of a lack of maintenance. Moreover, computers can be only used for typing and not for the Internet, since using the Internet in Burma is highly expensive and restricted. The reality of the situation is that the introduction of multimedia classrooms is just for show. Libraries in all institutions and universities have a shortage of funding and lack modern up to date books while Science Labs in institutions and universities are equipped with very old models, with insufficient numbers to go around. Students, likewise, have not enough resources for studying, particularly with regard to books, so they often find the books they require from foreign Embassies, or from relatives abroad. In primary education, students have to share the textbooks they are given, so in many cases parents have to buy the textbooks. Even though the military government has opened a number of new universities and colleges across the country, they have done nothing in terms of providing adequate facilities. The government has only focused on the statistics of development within the education sector, for instance, universities and school buildings and the number of graduates and not the reality of education. Almost all the new universities are built in suburb areas, which are too far away from the city centre and as a consequence they do not cater for the basic needs of the students. There are, for example, no government hostels, adequate public transport, subsidised restaurants or shops and there is a total lack of security. This means the cost for university students is becoming much higher than in previous years.

Despite the government’s insistence that they are promoting an E-learning educational system, with the use of high tech’ education, the Internet, for instance, is heavily restricted and extremely expensive for most people. E-learning centres are just for show, in some areas, and they are used to promote the high tech’ education programmes, of the government. It does not work in practice as few people are involved in the programmes and only a few elite numbers and privileged schools, in the Rangoon area, can get access to the centres. There is a University of Distance Education where students enroll, and this system faces a similar problem of totally inadequate facilities. The government does arrange programmes on the radio and television, which does include lecture tapes for all students. According to some students, though, there is no benefit from these arrangements, because first electricity shortages make it difficult for students to listen or watch the programmes, and second because of the bad quality of tapes which are sent by the University. Finally, students only have 10 days of lectures before they do their final exam. 3.4. Governing Education Policy Governing education is in the forefront of policy and planning, while the role of civil society, NGOs and non-state actors are also important. However, the current military government controls all civic institutions, so education is completely monopolised by the military government. There is little scope for professionals or for scholars to shape the education policy while there are no independent education institutions, in Burma, today. Despite the short term and long-term education plans, it is difficult for the government to achieve its goals, because of the system and the running mechanisms in the institutions. The long-term vision of the regime is “To create an education system that can generate a learning society capable of facing the challenges of the Knowledge Age”. The Six programmes of a National Special Four-Year Plan (2000-2004) includes a revision of the basic education curriculum, the introduction of a new assessment system and redefining the completion of basic education as well as a matriculation system. It also involves introducing multi-media classrooms, upgrading the quality of teacher education and supporting all-round development activity, and finally the universalisation of primary education (UPE). There is a 30-Years Long-Term Education plan for Basic Education (2001-2031), which includes improvement in the quality of basic education. Nevertheless, the government is not making the necessary tough reforms of the educational system and its institutions, which has been the hallmark of

this authoritarian regime for the past four decades. It is the existing institutional structures, therefore, that are the major impediment for reaching the goals in the education plans. The programmes upgrading the quality of teacher education and the support of all-round development have failed, because simply the institution of education which promotes teacher quality and the all-round development in schools is not independent in both their assessments and in their research. The reality in Burma is that teacher training is government policy and teaching centres and the all-round development of students are just programmes of propaganda or empowerment, through government policy. Governing education is a way of supporting military government policy and it is clearly not geared to the education sector. The National Education Committee of the military council controls all education institutions, in the country and as a result, an adequate and resourceful institution of education is not forthcoming to ensure a quality of education that the country needs. 3.5. The Learning Environment The learning environment is paramount in the quality of education. The environment is important in motivating the life of a student and a connection with the local community is one of the main components for a better learning environment. For most people In Burma, poverty and economic hardship have had a huge impact on the daily lives of students. As a consequence, student survival becomes a burden of the parents and the learning environment is not an incentive for students or parents. Because of the political instability in the cities and internal conflicts in several ethnic areas, the access route to a learning environment is unsafe and lacks stability for students. In the cities, for example, students at university and high school are more closely watched by Military Intelligence and the authorities so as to prevent possible student unrest. Entrance into universities and entrance into schools are controlled by security officers and students are obliged to show their ID at the gate. Frequently, students have been harassed for gathering on campus and in some cases students have been forced to do voluntary work on the state run programmes. In ethnic areas, students are often subjected to physical violence by government and local armies because of this they take refuge in neighbouring countries seeking a better education and a better living standard.

An adequate learning environment for children in basic health, school facilities, access to safe drinking water, and social aid is practically non-existent, in the country, which is because there is insufficient government assistance for education. State structures also play a role on the learning environment. The existing political structures do not in fact encourage respect for different values, creative thinking within students, or a developed teaching method for education staff. More importantly, there is no actual freedom of expression in the academic community. 3.6. Summing Up Gen. Khin Nyunt, the former Prime Minster of a self-imposed government, who is backed by the military, said at the opening session of a Seminar on understanding Myanmar, held on 27th January, 2004, in Rangoon; “... (N)ew universities and colleges have been opened and postgraduate courses have been established. The number of institutes of higher learning in the country has increased from 32 in 1988 to 154. Greater educational opportunities have been created and as a result the number of students studying at institutes of higher learning has increased from 130,000 to 890,000 at present. Likewise the numbers of professors and instructors have grown. The Number today totals 16,600. The Yangon University, Mandalay University and the Yangon Institute of Education presently offer doctorate courses (PhD courses) and 30 Dr Med Sc courses, the technological universities five doctorate courses in engineering and 16 architecture and engineering doctorate courses; and one IT doctorate course.” In fact, quality education cannot be conceptualised in terms of material inputs into education. Government statistics always point to the quantity and physical achievements of the government’s educational programmes, while the quality of education in the country is in serious decline. Several major factors have had a serious impact on the quality of education in the country. One is the decline in teacher qualifications and there is less participation by students and professions in drafting the school curriculum. There is also a poor curriculum, insufficient facilities and insufficient study material. At the same time, the influence and control of the military council on education policy has had a huge impact on the promotion of a quality of education. The present education policy should be designed and adopted by independent

civilian experts and not by the generals and military officers, who are appointed as advisors in the offices of education. Because of the weak and independent structure of civic institutions, quality education in the country cannot be monitored and, therefore, education becomes a tool for the political propaganda of the military council i.e. the State Peace and Development Council. The consequence of this controlled education is it devalues incentive and creates an insecure learning environment in the country as a whole. The mindset of military rule contradicts the concept of quality education, which should encourage creative thinking, a judgment on knowledge, as well as a preference for civil institutions, human rights and democratic values. The realization of a quality of education is clear, but this has nothing to do with the current situation of military rule and authoritarian government in Burma.

============================================================== CHAPTER FOUR: BORDER EDUCATION 4. The Situation of Burmese Education in the Border Areas Since its independence in 1948, Burma has been at war with itself. Successive governments have used violent means to suppress ethnic rebellion as a substitute for political dialogue, which has meant there has been no peaceful path for the demands of ethnic peoples. The demands for autonomy and ethnic rights have been ignored or pushed aside. As a result, the development of the ethnic people has suffered immensely along the border areas. The coming to power of the military regime, in 1962, has meant that the political situation in Burma has increasingly become more difficult. Prejudice in particular has been a major tool of the regime in suppressing the ethnic minorities under the banner of state sovereignty and unity. Though it has not reached all urban areas, education has taken the full impact of this present regime, which in turn has affected large parts of the ethnic areas. This has been due to the continuing confrontation between the SPDC army and ethnic rebels, who are fighting for autonomy. They are four main reasons for the current poor level of education in the ethnic areas and they are (a) Relocation; (b) Language; (c) Lack of investment by the government and (d) Forced Labour and Child Soldiers.

4.1 Relocation Most people living in ethnic areas are forced to leave their villages, because the SPDC is simply suspicious of their involvement in anti-SPDC activities. This leads subsequently to their deaths or the villages being razed to the ground. These people as a consequence flee to the jungle, where they are forced to live and hide. I was born in Puu Long village in 1986, at the border of the Karenni State. When I was five, I studied in kinder-garden. Our region was a revolutionary area, and when the SPDC attacked our village, we ran away. Our school was shut down. We learn what we can while living and hiding in the jungle. (Karenni woman living in exile)10 In ethnic villages, especially in the border areas, schools are constantly being shut down or being attacked by SPDC troops. On occasions, ethnic groups are relocated by the SPDC, particularly when plans for the construction of a dam, or a building, is used as an excuse to put down and relocate many of the ethnic minorities. In addition, the SPDC would use all means necessary to implement state-mandated agricultural programmes. According to an IDP report, in 2002 around 268,000 people were living or hiding in the jungle and another 365,000 were forced to move to more than 176 relocation sites.11 Most of these victims are teenagers, who clearly should be attending school. My children couldn't go to school because we always had to relocate from place to place. All my children finished Grade 1, and my third son finished Grade 2. But that's all they could manage under our difficult circumstances. We had to live like wild animals. Now, my children are trying to teach themselves to read and write in Sunday school. (IDP Karen woman)12 As a result of forced relocation most children cannot attend school and in most cases the relocation sites have no adequate schooling. In some of the relocation sites, there is a system of education, but it is poorly and insufficiently run and it often consists of small, under-

10 11 12

On a Teacher Training course for Burmese Teachers (2003) http://www.idpproject.org/, 13thNovember 2003.

‘False Peace; Increasing SPDC Military Repression on the Toungoo District of Northern Karen State’, a report by the Karen Human Rights Group, based in Thailand, p.23, March 1999.

staffed schools. And villagers in these areas are required to pay the full cost of schooling. This is an impossible task for most villagers and it means that very few children actually go to school. Despite claims from the SPDC that the national enrolment rate is gradually increasing, especially at the primary level, the fact remains that most IDP people are nomadic and not registered and, as such, they are excluded from the SPDC reports. 4.2 Language “In Burma today, although the military regime claims that it has achieved unity with the ethnic nationalities, the truth is that our ethnic nationalities are suffering greatly from repression of all kinds. For example, in the Mon state, in recent years, since this military regime came to power, the teaching of the Mon language in school has been prohibited. Now if this is not an infringement on the cultural rights of an ethnic people, then what is? Language is important.” (Daw Aung San Suu Kyi)13 The SPDC uses education as a political tool in the ‘Burmanisation’ of these ethnic regions, while most people living in these areas have their own ethnic language and in most cases, they do not read or write Burmese. The fact is that Burmese is the only language used in Burmese schools and to study ethnic languages, even as a second language is forbidden. This situation makes it incredibly difficult for ethnic children to educate themselves and as a result, the percentage of ethnic people, who receive any kind of formal education, is rapidly decreasing. There have been some attempts by ethnic groups to teach their language in schools, when allowed, but they have never been successful. Some ethnic groups have called ceasefires with the SPDC, and as part of the ceasefire agreement, requests have been made for native languages to be taught in schools. The New Mon State Party (NMSP) and the SPDC regime, for instance, reached a ceasefire agreement in June 1995. The NMSP then requested that the Mon language be taught in their special zone. After discussions between Lt. General Khin Nyunt, members of the Burmese Ministry for Education and various Mon leaders, the decision to allow the Mon language into Mon schools was permitted with an attached condition. The Education Ministry then released the following statement.

13

Excerpt from the message to the 56th Session of UN Commission on Human Right by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, pro-democracy leader in Burma.

The Government of the Union of Myanmar Ministry of Education Department for Basic Education Lt, No. Sub- Department 4-B/ Pa 6 Ga/ Border Area Development Dated: 3rd August 1995 Subject: Allowing the teaching of the Mon language outside standard school-time. Reference: SLORC directive letter no. 394/3-2/Na Wa Ta, dated 5thJuly 1995. 1. When the General Secretary for State Law and Order Restoration Council (1), Lt. General Khin Nyunt, Minsters, Deputy Ministers and several Departmental Chief Officials met to discuss the development plans for the Mon State on 18th June 1995, they also gave instructions for the implementation of the following plan. 2. From hereinafter, let it be known to all basic government schools that if pupils are interested in learning the Mon language, it must be permitted and arranged for outside normal school hours.

Signed-----------(On behalf of) Chief Directorate U Tin Aung Director To: The Director, State Education Department, Moulmein, Mon State.

-

Ministers , Ministry of Education

-

Chairman , Sub-committee for Education services

-

Headquarters, Border Area Development Implementing Committee.

-

Other concerned departments

-

office copy

However, this statement has not meant that the language is being taught in the public schools. Evidence shows that the local military intelligence (MI) and other government

officials have frequently compromised the agreement, by simply not allowing students to learn, or teachers to teach, the Mon language. Furthermore, the government has denied teachers and headmasters the ability to use the basic facilities to teach the language, particularly the use of furniture and basic teaching tools like chalk. It was difficult to overcome the problems and so the Mon language programme had to be curtailed, at these government schools,. This problem has not only occurred in areas like the Mon State, but in all other ethnic regions within Burma. In the Chin State, the Hakha language (Lai), the Phalam language (Laizo), and the Titan language (Zo) were taught in schools under British rule, from 1925, but, in 1990, this was limited by the regime. In another area, the Naga people have not been allowed to teach their language. In all other ethnic areas Burmese is still the only official language allowed in schools. A Mon national school was banned at Kwan-thar village in Mudon Township on 16th October 1999, by village chairman U Sein Aung and secretary U Tha Aung under the order of No.5 MI officers. They said that “if no one complies with the order, there will be punishment.” In Sat-thwe village in Mudon Township on September 1999, the Secretary of the Township Peace and Development Council, U Myint Soe, shut down a Mon National School and threatened to arrest Mi Maw Zar, a Mon female teacher, if she did not leave the school.14 Thus, ethnic groups are forced to learn Burmese if they want to go to school and this restricts them from any opportunity of a formal education. The consequence of is that ethnic children are unable to perform well in school, which subsequently goes a long way to ensure that the dropout rate increases, in these ethnic regions.

14

In ‘Burma Education in Corruption and Oppression against Ethnic Education, in Mon Territory’ report by the Mon Educational Committee.

IB No. 31 ordered to close a Mon school, 26thMay 2003. Independent Mon News Agency A local military battalion base on Kalar-goke Island, in the southern part of Mon State, ordered a Mon literacy school on the island village to close down. The commanders from Infantry Battalion No. 31 went twice to the school and ordered the local villagers to close down the Mon literacy school, which was operating with the help of Mon teachers, involved in promoting Mon national education during the summer. On May 20th, the deputy commander of IB No. 31, Lt. Col. Aye Thein ordered Kalar-goke villagers to once again close down the school, but the teachers went on teaching Mon language, defying the order once more. A meeting with the villagers was called by the commander, to once again order the school to be shut down.

4.3 Lack of Investment in Education by the Government "A good education system is necessary for the long-term development of a country and we are all responsible for working towards the improvement of the education system.” 15 Daw Aung San Suu Kyi "The State shall pay special attention to the young and promote their education." Section 34, Chapter IV of the 1947 Constitution. In 1989, the Ministry of Progress for Border Areas, National Races, & Development Affairs was set up, by the SPDC regime, so the government could carry out a development programme of the ethnic peoples along the borders. The Ministry is responsible for 68 townships, where over 5 million ethnic people live. According to the statistics of Ministry of Information, only 88,277 students are attending the basic-education level in ethnic regions.16 According to

15

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s speech given on National Day, November 2002.

government statistics, only 1.6% living in the border area attends school, while 32.7% of the population is under the age of fourteen.17 According to these government statistics, the school enrolment rate is too low, in these areas. Another problem is the dropout rate on the border areas. Statistics have shown that around 84% of all children, who drop out of primary school, are from rural areas and these are areas where most ethnic people live.18 The enrolment level for the primary level age group is very low in most ethnic states. In Karen, Karenni and Shan states, for example, the percentage of children attending school is only 10%, while in Wa, which is a special zone of the Lawng Pa area, the percentage is even less. In the Arakan State the percentage is also very low.19 One reason for the low level of education among ethnic students is the basic condition of most schools. The lack of adequate teachers, poor facilities, the bad location of the school and security problems all in their own way add to the problem. In 1998, according to research done on the education system in Shan state, just over 6% of the student population in Burma lives in the State, and although only 11.4% of all schools are situated in this area, most teachers are not willing to teach there because of the low salaries. The average salary for a teacher is 4,500 Kyats per month, which equals 5 US dollars (an US dollar can be estimated at around 900 kyats on the black market). This salary is not even adequate for a teacher’s basic survival given the constant high inflation rates. Teachers are often forced to hold private tuitions in their own homes, where they charge roughly 500 Kyats per month, per student, at the primary level. We used to have seven periods at school before the SPDC times. We used to get lectures every period from the teachers. But lately, the teachers get such small salaries, they don’t teach for the whole school day anymore. They only teach for two periods. Sometimes, they take turns coming to school so they can go out and work other jobs during the day. So the quality of education we got was really bad. None of

16

‘Developing in Burma 1988-2003’, (Burmese version), The Myanmar Information Ministry.

17

Xinhua News Agency, 11thJuly, 2003.

18

‘On the analysis of the situation of women and children in Rangoon(Yangon), UNICEF, August 1999, p 78.

19

‘Gathering Strength. Women from Burma on Their Rights’ by Brenda Belak, Images Asia, January 2003.

the students were interested in studying anymore, so many students stopped coming to school and went out to try to find work instead.

20

If I teach for the KIO school, the salary is not enough for me to feed myself. That’s why I don’t want to do this job, and no one else wants to do it either.21 As a result, teachers do not teach full-time so most students have to pay the price of having less hours of study at school. Sometimes, the students' parents collect money to hire a teacher for the school, but nearly all of the teachers who are appointed by local communities have only just passed the matriculation examination and have no formal teaching experience. I was a teacher in a KNU Middle School. After I passed 10th standard, I became a teacher without any training. Then after four years of teaching, I got one year’s teacher training at the Karen Teacher Training College. After that, I taught for another two years until I left to Thailand. I left because the salary was too low.22 A further problem faced by ethnic people trying to get an education is the location of many schools. Many schools are situated in larger cities so most parents from ethnic groups are not able to send their children to school. The fact is that many are usually poor farmers, who live in rural areas. There is no school in my village and only a few people are educated. The school is located at the other side of the river, and the water often rises very high. Most people dare not send their children to school out of fear for the currents. If they send their children to school, they have to use a rowboat to go and come back every day.23

20

CINT* 89 ‘Gathering Strength. Women from Burma on Their Rights’ by Brenda Belak, Images Asia, January 2003.

21

CINT* 89 ‘Gathering Strength. Women from Burma on Their Rights’ by Brenda Belak, Images Asia, January 2003. 22

CINT* 132 ‘Gathering Strength. Women from Burma on Their Rights’ by Brenda Belak, Images Asia, January 2003.

23

CINT* 285 ‘Gathering Strength. Women from Burma on Their Rights’ by Brenda Belak, Images Asia, January 2003.

Lack of security also contributes to the low level of education among children living in the border area: I went to school but from kindergarten to 2nd standard we didn’t have full time study. We studied for three or four months and then we had to stop. We had always to be wary when we were studying, because the Burmese soldiers shot at our place with heavy weapons once every month. In some months the shot their heavy weapons at our place two or three times. So we had to run away all the time, and finally we weren’t interested in studying.

24

In spite of the formal statements by the SPDC about investment, the real situation is about a complete lack of commitment. The SPDC, for example, claims that there are plans to build three schools in five rural villages, but there are no resources or funds to carry out this plan, in practice. The fact that most people living in the border areas rely on seasonal work for their income makes it even harder for them to survive. Their wages, for example, can be compared to that of government servants. Therefore, to pay for their children's education is something for which is deemed inconceivable. All fees for attending school are a huge financial burden for families, and children are forced to dropout of primary school. Most children around the border areas had only passed the 4th standard before they were forced to leave school and help supplement their family's income. This is an increasingly common feature not only around the border areas but also in urban areas. There are some attempts to help the education system but so far they have not been successful. Some ethnic opposition and ceasefire groups have though opened schools in their liberated area and refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border, with the support of international non-government organizations. However, these schools are very limited in teaching facilities. According to a ZOA education survey in 2002 the enrolment rate is increasing, but suitable schools are required and there is still a shortage of textbooks in the camps and classrooms are overcrowded. In addition, some teachers are lacking in teacher training, and even though some NGOs provide such training it does not meet the required quality and quantity. Moreover, some schools face a financial crisis and they can't provide salaries for teachers.

24

CINT* 75‘Gathering Strength, Women from Burma on Their Rights’ by Brenda Belak, Images Asia, January 2003.

Since 1988, the SPDC regime has instigated the so-called 'Self-Reliance Program'. In it, villagers are forced to collect money in the community to build schools. Although the Ministry of Progress of Border Areas, National Races, & Development Affairs claims that many schools have been built in ethnic areas, ethnic groups report that most of the schools in their areas are very old and are not suitable for teaching. As mentioned earlier, according to the 1947 Constitution, education is a responsibility of the State. Handing this responsibility to its people is not how things are meant to be. For the children of the Khaeng Phawng tract, the military authorities had ordered villagers to help themselves and build a new elementary school in the middle of a rice field, about 2 furlongs from the main road, and the children would have to cross the wet rice during the rains25. 4.4 Forced Labour and Armed Conflict Despite the 1/99 order stated by the SPDC, in 1999, whereby forced labour is prohibited, it is still very common on the border and in the conflict areas. Villagers are often forced into labour when the SPDC troops increase military operations or implement new projects like building roads, railways and dams, although school children are not usually forced into labour. Nevertheless, when parents are ordered to work, especially during the harvest season, they often cannot obey the orders, because of the full-time work. The children are sent to the labour camps instead, which of course interrupts the education of the children. A Shan woman exiled in Thailand said, “When the order arrived during the harvesting season, the parents may have no alternative but to keep working in their fields if they want something to eat during the months that follows, so they have to send their children in their place to work for the SPDC. The same happens when the father is dead; the mother can’t leave the children at home alone, so has to send her eldest son. Sometime orders are received to send one person per family.”

25

"Confiscation of self-help village school in Kaeng Tung ", monthly report, Shan Human Rights Foundation, February 2001.

According to Article 38 of the Convention on the Right of the Child, it is the State's responsibility to protect and care for the children, who are affected by armed conflict.26 The political situation and the armed conflict between SPDC troops and ethnic rebels have had a serious impact on access to education on the border. In the conflict areas, schools are often closed by military operations, or even razed to the ground by the SPDC troops. I studied for four or five years, until 3rd standard. Since the Burmese troops destroyed my village, we had to try to avoid them, so we ran to the jungle and sat our exams under the bamboo together with my schoolmates and teacher. At that time, my parents arranged for food to be sent to me. Our school was damaged by the fighting, and after that I couldn’t continue studying. From that time until now, we have been persecuted.

27

Moreover, most villagers and children, especially around the border areas, have been ordered to serve as soldiers by the SPDC or ethnic armed groups. In most cases, parents are threatened with death if they do not comply with the order, while children are just taken to recruitment camps and become child soldiers. Burma is believed to have more child soldiers than any other country in the world. It is estimated that over 70,000 of all soldiers in the Burmese army, out of a total of around 350,000, may be children under the age of eighteen.28 The crisis is further enhanced by the fact that many children, who are unwilling to fight for the SPDC and know that there is a greater chance of being forced to take up arms by the SPDC troops, so they usually join their respective ethnic armed insurgency groups instead. I studied at Wangkha until 10th standard. In primary school, there were the same number of boys and girls, but in high school there were more girls and fewer boys, because during our school days, there were battles between the KNU and the SLORC so often. So when the boys completed 6th or 7th standard, they joined the army

26

Article 38 (4), United Nations' Convention on the Right of the Child.

27

CINT* 146‘ Gathering Strength. Women from Burma on Their Rights’ by Brenda Belak, Images Asia, January 2003. 28

Human Rights Watch, 2002

because they wanted to help fight. The girls couldn’t go to the front-line, so we continued to study.29 As we can see, the regime is not only denying education to their children, but not protecting their human rights too. In summary, the regime claims they are investing a lot of money around the border and in ethnic areas, however, the education system is still failing and mainly for these reasons: •

Forced relocation;

•

Intentional suppression of indigenous cultures and languages, the so called 'Burmanization';

•

Lack of commitment to reinforce laws

•

Lack of investment in education, especially around the border areas

•

Forced labour and the conflicts between SPDC troops and ethnic troops, which have led to the existence of a large number of child soldiers.

Note: * CINT- Overall, more than 20 researchers from Burma and a number of other countries conducted interviews and set up focus discussion groups for the project, which produced 293 transcripts. A total of 450 people participated in these sessions, 411 of them were women from Burma. Of the remaining interviewees, 30 were men from Burma. Another nine were foreigners, six women and three men. The transcripts of individual interviews and focus group discussions were entered into a computer data-base at Images Asia, where each has been assigned a label composed of the prefix CINT plus a number from 01 to 293. Throughout this report, when the interviews are quoted, they are referred to using their database code, for example as CINT 05 or CINT 269. When names of interviews do appear in the text, pseudonyms are used. ‘Gathering Strength. Women from Burma on Their Rights’ by Brenda Belak, Images Asia, January 2003.

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29

CINT 75 ‘Gathering Strength. Women from Burma on Their Rights’ by Brenda Belak, Images Asia, January 2003.

CHAPTER FIVE: STUDENT RIGHTS 5. Student Rights It is a known fact that there are widespread human rights abuses in Burma. It is also a fact that all civic institutions are and have been controlled and influenced by Burma’s military regimes. Basic human rights, it is clear, are essential to human development and the quality of education. Freedom of expression, for example, is a necessary element in human rights as are the freedom of association, and the freedom of assembly. In fact, without these basic rights, a country cannot develop into a democratic society nor can it develop a democratic education system. This has not happened in Burma. Historically, violation of student rights has been going on since the beginning of military rule, in 1962. The government at the time made a number of restrictions on student’s movements. A strict hostel regulation was one change and this and several other restrictions led the student’s union to a peaceful demonstration on 7thJuly against these extreme restrictions. The consequence of this action led to several student demonstrators being killed and a historic student’s union building being blown up. More importantly from that time to the present the student unions went underground. Under the current military government, student’s rights and academic freedom, including the freedom of expression and the freedom of association have been curtailed. Student rights defenders have been tortured and imprisoned and union activists have often been arrested on groundless accusations. The fact remains that without student rights and academic freedom, an established education system would not function and a quality of education would be impossible. 5.1. Violation of student rights In addition to human right abuses on civilians, student rights have been severely restricted by the military authorities. Government assistance toward students like grants and academic facilities are not enough, as freedom of expression, opinion and peaceful assembly within the universities are too severely restricted. Students who affiliate to political organizations or work as student activists are mistreated by both universities and education authorities. Universities and schools are unable to protect the security or the study conditions of students, who have a right to be free from such threats and problems. For ethnic students,

there is the added problem of language because they have no rights to have their lectures in their own language, as several ethnic schools are banned by the government. The lack of school facilities The government has constantly proclaimed extensive support for state assistance to the education sector in the country, while the distribution of resources for education is unjust and not effective for those who really want it from the government. Most government assistance goes to the highly privileged schools and military universities, while schools in rural and border areas are in disrepair. Students from public universities and colleges, around the country, are suffering from inadequate facilities particularly in areas of public transport, the low number of teachers and poor study material and an insufficient student welfare system. There are no student loans or enough financial assistance from the government for students to study, while students in the military universities benefit from monthly salaries and free tuition fees. Students from public universities and schools must rely on their parents’ support so most students, who cannot afford the cost of studying, must find work or dropout. In this way, students do not benefit from government assistance, while most students are unable to focus on their studies and regularly attend classes when they are working. This situation has caused a problem in attending classes in the Computer College of Rangoon and Mandalay, which came to a head, in March 2004. On 18thMarch, 2004, over 100 students from the Computer College of Mandalay staged a spontaneous demonstration, in front of the college, despite the strong possibility of being arrested and imprisoned, as reported by the Democratic Voice of Burma on 20th March, 2004. The demonstration began when the administrative office presented a list of third year students who were not entitled to sit their final exams because their class attendance was lower than 75%. A similar demonstration took place at the Rangoon Computer College in Shwepyithar Township in the same month. One parent pointed out that the Mandalay Computer College is located 30 miles from Mandalay and since there is no student hostel located there, students have to travel daily by school bus. However, as the buses do not run everyday, students could only attend classes three or four days a week. Despite the programme of establishing a number of new universities and colleges around the country, the number of teachers and the lack of student materials have been extremely meager. Teachers of Technological Colleges, for example, have to move from one college to

another around the country to teach students. This creates no study environment as the locations are too far away from city centres, and there have been numerous reports of sexual abuse and robberies on the university campuses. Offences done by local authorities and government-sponsored groups Students have been used as a tool of the propaganda machine of government and they are consequently being threatened by a number of authorities. In 2004, for instance, reports by the ABFSU showed that female students in several regions had been forced to join local women affairs committees, which had been established with the support of the government and headed by the wives of military generals and businessmen. In some areas, local authorities were not only forcing students to join this committee, but they were also forcing them to wear the uniforms of the committee at school. Students and high school teachers have also been forced to join the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), a government sponsored radical group, which often commits violent attacks on political activists. Organized government activities and government sponsored public rallies promote military rule and students and teachers are forced to join. For this they get the benefit of good jobs or higher grades in exams. Whenever students are in conflict with local authorities or people of government-backed associations, they are harshly treated and punished by the government so students do not dare to complain to the authorities or demand their rights. In September 2003, a group of students from Magwe clashed with the traffic police. The police attempted to confiscate a student's motorbike because the student did not have a license and the student was not wearing a helmet. The local authority personnel, including USDA members and fire fighters, proceeded to attacked and beat up the students. The Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) reported the following:

Clash between students and authorities in Magwe Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, 28 Sep 2003 There had been a clash between students and traffic police in Magwe at about 10pm on Saturday and some students were severely beaten up by the authority. While the clash occurred, the police, fire fighters and USDA members who were carrying catapults and sticks and local authorities joined in the beating up of students with the cry “if

they are students, beat them up”, according to eye witness. Five students were arrested and they were released by the authority this morning. A local resident who witnessed the brutality told DVB about the incidents as follows: A Magwe resident: First, students were cheering and shouting among themselves as the walked on the street. About twenty to thirty the police, USDA members, fire fighters, local authorities carrying catapults, stones and sticks were lying in wait for them in the dark. The students were celebrating the end of their exams. The attackers then shouted, “if they are students, beat them up” and started to assault the students. Two students fell writhing in pain because of the severity of the beating and they were arrested…about five students were arrested. First, two students were arrested and two were arrested later. Then, about 30 students congregated at 50th Street and went to the incident area on motorbikes. When the attackers saw the students they turned away and the students prepared to go turn away. As soon as the students turned their backs, the attackers assaulted them from behind with the war cry again. The students had to flee on their bikes. They also beat up passer-bys who were nothing to do with the students. They also fled. One person who was unable to flee was arrested there. Five in all were arrested. As far as I know all of them were released this morning…The first two arrested were wounded quite seriously. The other two were thrown with sticks and stones and shot with catapults while they tried to escape…the local people were very upset by the assaults. There was a clash between the students and the traffic police on the 9th of this month. Local people say that the latest incident could be the consequence of the previous incident. The elders of the town pleaded that the problems can't be solved with hatred but by “metta” loving kindness but the authorities are increasingly using weapons to solve problems and the situation in Magwe is still said to be tense. The Freedom of Expression and the Freedom of Assembly With a total lack of commitment toward civil rights, the freedom of expression and assembly in universities and schools, have been strictly prohibited. One major tool to prevent possible student demonstrations against military rule is the restriction on social gatherings on campus. Many students and their families, who complain or criticise the education system in anyway are warned or dismissed from the university. On the 13thMarch, 2003, Burma’s Human Rights Day, five university students were arrested by the military authorities for wearing traditional Burmese “pinni” jackets, which is a prominent

Burmese student dress in the democracy movement. March 13th marks Burma's Human Rights Day, the date when a student from Rangoon Institute of Technology was killed in the student demonstration of 1988. The regime arrested five students, including Kyaw Zeya from Dagon University of Rangoon. They were temporary detained at Insein prison, before being released. During 2003-2004, several students were detained by the military authorities for establishing a student’s literacy group. They were warned by the authorities because they had not received acknowledgement from the local authority. Similarly, there have been many cases of student arrests and imprisonment, because students try to practice the freedom of expression.

Arrests of 7 Students Due to Distributing Pamphlets Against the Regime's Road Map Media Release Foreign Affairs Committee All Burma Federation of Student Unions Date: 23rd October, 2003 In the last week of September, 7 Students were arrested because of distributing pamphlets which described the student union's statement against the regime's political road map. They are Nanda Sit Aung (a) Sit Ko Naing, Han Win Aung, Kyaw Kyaw, Kyaw Soe Moe, Win Ko, Zaw Zaw Aung and Myint Myint Soe (female). According to the ABFSU source, they all are currently held at a military interrogation center and are going to be charged with the existing laws under the Burmese military regime very soon. The statement that the students distributed said that all those who try to destroy the 1990 election result, attend the regime initiated National Convention, and stand with the regime's political road map will be defined as national betrayers by the people. It also said the regime's road map did not represent the needs of the whole nationalities and the country. The statement also requested that the people be against the regime's road map which aims only to enhance the military rule in Burma, and cooperate with international community in order to try the junta before the international courts for their political crimes. The statement was issued on the date of 25 Sep and in the name of Sit Ko Naing, General Secretary of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions. Min Naing, In Charge person of the Foreign Affairs Committee of All Burma Federation of Student Unions, said, “they all must be released unconditionally and immediately because

they just tried to freely express the student's opinion on the current political situation in Burma and the regime's initiated political way. They didn't totally commit any criminal case. If the regime sincerely wants political development in Burma, it must allow the political participation of all societal layers, freedom of expression and freedom of association. The regime's political road map won't be sustained if there are no such freedoms and civil and political rights. ” The newly appointed PM of the military government presented their political road map of national reconciliation and democratization of Burma shortly after the arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the members of National League for Democracy. Presently, they force people to join the government sponsored rally to support the road map while they ban the movement of legal political parties, freedom of expression and political rights.

The freedom of assembly on campus has also been prohibited and in 2003, some students from Mandalay and Rangoon Computer College were dismissed from their respective universities. They were involved in demonstrations against university regulations. Whenever peaceful demonstrations have occurred, the regime always uses violent means to quell the student movement. The military government has also closed down universities without any notice or official announcement.

Media Release Foreign Affairs Committee Date: 29th November, 2003 We have received news disclosing the Burmese military regime's obvious discrimination in education against politically affiliated people. A daughter of U Min Swe, an elected Member of Parliament from NLD, was forced out of her winning opportunity to further her education in Hiroshima University of Japan. He said in the interview by BBC Burmese on 28 November evening program that he believed his daughter was expelled among selected 15 candidates because of his involvement in the politics. She is a graduate in Master of Education degree and currently serving as a high school teacher. Min Naing, In Charge person of ABFSU Foreign Affairs Committee said, “This is one of the apparent human rights violations by the military regime. It always tried to force the people

to be away from country's struggle for democracy by creating climate of fear among the public. This case further call for the United Nations and international community at large to speed up its effort to stop the military regime's human rights violations and push is to make substantive dialogue with the democratic forces led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in order to solve the country's political and economic problems. We strongly urge the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) to seriously look into this case and reassure above mentioned teacher's winning opportunity to further her education. ” There were previously a number of cases like this one of the Burmese military regime's severe violations of human rights such as not issuing passport, not granting pilgrimage trip, and not giving the chance to study abroad to politically activated people.

In every university and college campus, there is an office for government intelligence, particularly the Special Branch of the Home Ministry or Military Intelligent of the Defence Ministry. These officials closely watch student activities and some are often called in or interrogated and they are constantly under surveillance. The regulations of a university are given below.

Discipline for a University/a Degree College/ College and Institutions Political Riots/Unrest * Unofficial Translation Source: Official Guideline Booklet for University Entrance, University Entrance Board, Department of Higher Education - Lower Burma, Ministry of Education, 2004 Punishment No

Crimes

1

Those who are involved in riots/unrest and are sentenced by

Expulsion Expulsion

the court 2

Those who lead riots/ unrest

3

Those who agitate the riots/unrest

Expulsion

(e.g. posting posters, distributing pamphlets, organizing boycotts of schools, stopping someone from sitting exams, organising demonstrations/strikes, arranging demonstrations/

Expulsion

Warning

strikes, giving speeches and supporting demonstrations) 4

Those who actively participate in the riots/unrest

Expulsion

5

Those who follow the riots/unrest

Expulsion

6

Those who follow the riots/unrest because of threats and

Expulsion

harassment In rural and ethnic areas, students suffer from a number of abuses by the local authorities and the military forces. According to a number of ABFSU sources, students were forced in some areas, to work as volunteers on government construction sites, particularly projects on dams, roads and bridges. In war zones, students are often threatened by the military forces as a means of forcing students to relocate or end up on the battlefield and the language rights of students from ethnic areas are consistently being abused. The statement below explains:

Mon forced out of their schools 15 May 2004, Kao Wao News A Mon school was forced to shut down after the State Peace and Development Council authorities confiscated land to build a government office, according to a source from Ye, Mon State. "Colonel Myint Aung accused the Mon national school of competing with the SPDC's School," said Mi Norn, a woman leader from Lamine community. About 425 children from the Mon primary school are now out of class for an indefinite period even though the school is still standing and has yet to be demolished. The SPDC, she said, has confiscated land in Lamine, northern Ye township since April 2004. The local source reported the reason for the confiscation was to build a new office after the village was promoted up to the town level earlier in the year. The villagers built the Mon school with an area of 200 by 130 feet after the NMSP reached a cease-fire agreement with the military regime over eight years ago. The villagers hired Mon

teachers to teach according to a Mon national education curriculum supported by the community. When Lamine, the biggest village in northern Ye, Mon State, was reclassified as a town, a religious site was taken over to build government offices. Located on the Moulmein-Ye railroad, Lamine has over 4,000 households and is famous for the Kyaik Kelasa pagoda where several pilgrims from all over Mon State in the springtime season come during the 12th lunar month of the Mon calendar.

5.2. Student Political Prisoners Independent student unions and associations are illegal in Burma. Union activists have been arrested and imprisoned under a number of charges, like the National Security Emergency Acts. Student unions, including the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) have been active as an underground movement and the ABFSU foreign affairs committee has been functioning on the Thai-Burma border. Some students in Pegu, who tried to establish a local student union were arrested and interrogated by local authorities and then released, in May, 2003. Six students of Dagon University who tried to establish a sports union were also arrested in June, 2003 and those who have been linked to, or have supported the underground movement have been arrested, tortured, and imprisoned and charged under various acts. Since the student unions are not registered in the country, its publications and pamphlets and its activities are also illegal, according to existing laws. Being a student union activist assumes a criminal status and is punishable under existing laws, and by military rule. Many student activists have been subjected to these abuses because of their democratic struggle, in the country. Even though some political prisoners completed their prison terms, their imprisonment was extended under complex National Security Acts. So far, around 500 students are believed to be in prison. The role of students in Burma's politics is historical. Since the era of colonialism under British rule, students have taken part in the peoples' movement for national independence, internal peace, democracy and human rights. Students believe that peaceful and democratic education cannot come about without internal peace, an atmosphere of democracy, stable government and sustainable development. They believe too that the current military rule and

political instability actually undermines education. At the same time, economic and social hardship makes it difficult for students. Since 1988, students have been demanding democracy and human rights and they have demanded an elected civilian government in order to end military rule, in accordance with the 1990 general election result. Students are also demanding national reconciliation with meaningful dialogue between the various democracy groups, ethnic groups and the army in the name of national interests. Students want the government to recognize the existence of independent student unions, with student rights and education opportunities. Under these demands, students are in the forefront of politics, in Burma. Like other political prisoners, student political prisoners suffer from poor healthcare by the prison authorities. There is a lack of medical doctors and a lack of medicines in most prisons. If a political prisoner is seriously ill, the prison authorities must inform military intelligent, and wait for permission on whether the prisoner should be referred to hospital. Some students die in custody before they get adequate medical treatment and some are transferred to prisons, away from their local area. These prisoners suffer from the lost of contact with family, who can rarely visit them. This is important as prisoners must survive and they do this by the support of their families with food, medicines, clothes etc. The loss of contact with family can mean surviving with very poor prison supplies, which makes life extremely difficult in prison. Students cannot read and write in prison. If the authorities find pens, paper or books, he/she will be punished, according to the prison regulations. Since 1999, when the ICRC was allowed to visit the prisons, students can read some religious books and write personal letters to their families. However, they are still prohibited to read and write. The education of these students has been curtailed by the authorities. Mr. Pinherio, United Nations' Human Rights Special Rapporteur on Myanmar (Burma), once said that it was like a kind of intellectual death to the younger generation. Most students who are released from prison are dismissed from their respective universities and colleges and are forced to apply for the University of Distance Education (UDE). This means they are not allowed to stay on campus anymore. Most are often called in or investigated by the local authority, especially when there is a political movement in a respective local area. Students and their families are constantly harassed and intimidated by the military authorities, if they do not cooperate with them. Whenever there is a student movement or a hint of student activism, they are called in and temporarily detained at the local police station or military interrogation centres.

5.3. Academic Rights The previous chapter described the quality of education and the fact that military universities are the only qualified institutions, in the country, and as such most students are discriminated against in the access to quality education. Examination papers often leak out and students can buy the papers in advance. At the University of Distance Education, students only need to attend a month long course before the exam. Students are only taught three or four preliminary question papers, so despite the increase in graduate students, as stated by government statistics, the quality of graduate students is in fact suspect. Moreover, universities and institutions have failed to provide an appropriate environment for studying and assessment. The evaluation of a student's performance on a course is not adequately given so it does not reflect on the content of the course. This is especially in the case of high schools. Membership to government-sponsored groups means involvement in the government’s propaganda machinery and a teacher's personal attitude is included in the evaluation of passing exams.

Students are subsequently forced to participate in the activities of

government, as well as membership of sponsored groups and attend private tuition, which is organized by the schoolteachers. Recently, a report from Kalay University, in the Northwest of Burma, noted that the choice of students, who are to attend the honour-class at the University, is based on membership of USDA and not on the grade of the student. Students, at the same time, are not well informed about international scholarships or fellowship programmes and if an international institution offers the government scholarships or fellowships it picks the students that it wants. This selection process is not based on the level of competence among the students, but on students from family members, or students who know government officials. In addition, academic seminars or workshops are strictly controlled by the authorities. University departments, for example, need permission from the military authority and if this is given government intelligent agents are there to censor the papers.

CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 6. Conclusion and Recommendations Burma is a party to the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child. In Article 29(1) of the Convention, the aims of education are clearly written: State Parties agree the education of the child shall be directed to (a) The development of the child's personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential; (b) The development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations; (c) The development of respect for the child's parent, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, for the national values of the country in which the child is living, the country from which he or she may originate, and for civilizations different from his or her own; (d) The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin; (e) The development of respect for the national environment. If this is compared to the government position then it can be said that the regime is failing in its obligation to ensure a decent education system. The unchanging political situation, the existing administrative structures and strict military rule are all in the way of achieving such goals. The system does not stimulate creative thinking nor develop children talent and abilities to the fullest potential necessary. The system does not respect international values in human rights and basic freedoms, nor does it respect ethnic cultures and languages and it does not concern itself with the environment nor the appropriate measures for a decent education in a free society. The educational goals in Burma are designed by the military government in such a way as to contradict Article 29(1) of the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child, which had been agreed upon by the military government. Human Rights education is not in the Burmese education system, in practice and, to a large extent, the regime has made a number of gross misinterpretations in human rights. In 2004, for example, the education authority introduced a human rights course in the high school curriculum, with the guidance of the government's National Education Committee, although human rights in the curriculum was assumed as a gift or a privilege which was given by a

higher authority, not as a birthright. In the high school curriculum, only the people’s obligation to the state is described, while civil rights and the State’s obligation to human rights are completely omitted. At the same time, human rights activists, who distribute pamphlets of the United Nation's Human Rights Declaration are often arrested and detained by the military authorities. Military officers and local authorities see “human rights” as a foreign concept, which is against current existing rules and provokes political instability. In September 2000, the United Nations' General Assembly adopted a resolution called “the United Nations Millennium Declaration” and as a consequence of the declaration, the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) was designed by the United Nations and its bodies. The second goal of the MDG is to achieve universal primary education, by the year 2015, so as to ensure children everywhere will be able to complete primary schooling. Every member state of the United Nations is under obligation to achieve these universal goals and both governments and non-state actors are responsible for implementing a number of action plans. In Burma, since the military controls all sectors and prohibits independent civil institutions, the regime has been responsible for implementing free primary education and for allowing participation in these measures, from within the society. However, free primary education is not a reality. How free primary education failed, is one of the main points of this report. The second important issue, which this report raised, was about the quality of education in Burma. Although the government had boasted that there were more universities and colleges, and increased numbers of graduated students, the actual quality of education was not encouraging. Since Burma is a closed society and under authoritarian rule, it is difficult to know exactly what quality of education exists. The regime promotes a quality of education within military institutions, which is used as a mechanism for the long-term rule of the military regime. Students in these universities are perceived as future leaders in political, economic, military and social affairs. The quality of education in civilian institutions though, is a major concern to Burmese compatriots. At the 36th session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, it was concluded after observing Burma in “Paragraph 63(a), The Committee recommends that the State Party to improve the quality of the education system with a view to achieving the aims mentioned in article 29.1 of the Convention and the Committee's General Comments on the aims of education”. Of course, this has been ignored by the regime. The interests of people along the border area and ethnic areas are often avoided by the regime, especially as these regions have been suffering from internal wars and conflicts. The

regime has set up a Ministry of Border Affairs in order to handle the development of those areas, but it does not function properly. We also highlighted this in the report and the situation for children along the border areas. Schools which were run by the ethnic groups were often threatened or closed down by the local army commanders and armed forces. Because of internal wars in the region, many people are displaced or hide in the jungle for fear of abuse by the military, particularly the fear of forced labour, forced relocation, as well as, torture, being arrested or killed. The education and welfare of children in these communities are totally ignored by international bodies, like UNICEF and UNHCR, since they cannot reach those areas without the permission of the military authorities. At the same time, many Burmese people migrate illegally to neighbouring countries, especially Thailand. The children of these communities are now facing lack of support for their education, health and social welfare. We need international awareness on children education along the border areas and not only in Burma itself. While international institutions like UNICEF and World Visions focus within Burma, we have tried to paint a truer picture of the failing education situation along the border. Now we come to the issue of student rights. We believe these rights have been systematically abused by the military authorities, as a way of stopping possible student unrest or demonstrations taking place over the current education and political system. One weapon to stop student demonstrations has been the regime’s method of closing all universities for unlimited periods, but because of domestic and international pressures, they reopened the universities in July 2000. However, the regime has applied other means to prevent students organising themselves. The opening of new sites for universities and colleges around the country has been one such method of dispersing the students, although there is not enough teachers, learning material or adequate school facilities. At the same time, the regime has ordered a number of restrictions and regulations on campus and for the entrance into the university. This has led to more discrimination against politically motivated students, as well as, threats from local authorities. Freedom of expression and academic rights, which are related to a quality of education, are strictly prohibited and some students who practice these rights are arrested and imprisoned. Student rights, it can be said, are widely abused and it has an impact on the education system, in general. In conclusion, free primary education and the quality of education were two major points in the education system, which was raised in the report, especially in relation to the future development of the education system.

At the same time, student rights and the education situation of ethnic people were highlighted. The failure of the Burma education system leads to child soldiers, child labour and street children, because of the government’s failure to implement free primary education, in the country. In addition, the abuse of student rights, the lack of a peaceful learning environment, equal access to education and minority rights are all in different ways affected by the regime’s policies on education. The violation of student rights is in turn ensuring an absence of quality education and as a consequence of poor and unqualified education, the whole system becomes unreliable and people lack total confidence in themselves. Under these circumstances and the existing situation, we believe there will be no true progress made in education. We request therefore the following recommendations to the respective people in order to improve the education situation and only with adequate measures and actions can the education system in Burma move forward. To the military government and respective government bodies 1. To take anti-corruption measures, particularly within the education sector, in the country as a whole. 2. To fully implement the recommendations made by 36th session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. 3. To allocate the government budget towards education and to reduce military expenditure. 4. To stop the restrictions and harassment by the authorities on universities and students. 5.

To stop military violence on the ethnic population and ethnic schools.

6. To allow the freedom and the rights of students on campus. 7. To release all student political prisoners immediately and unconditionally. 8. To abolish all military institutions that are not necessary for military operations, and which only promote the military elite in society. 9. To implement a structure of Education which has full participation by the students, teachers, parents and the government etc. 10. To resolve by means of peaceful dialogue the demands of students. 11. To resolve through peaceful political dialogue, with the major representatives in society, all the problems that have created national instability, economic and social disorder as well as education turmoil.

Demands to the International community, particularly the United Nations and national governments 1. Help to strengthen civil society and independent institutions. 2. Closely monitor and evaluate real progress in coordination with the ruling government on education projects. 3. Consult and coordinate with independent civil groups, including student unions, democracy groups and ethnic groups, in order to effectively act on humanitarian affairs. 4. That the regime should implement and respect student rights, union activities, academic freedom and institutional rights, in accordance with internationally recognised standards. 5. Pressure the regime for a genuine transition to democracy and for a liberalisation of society through dialogue, with all the political actors in Burma. Demands to civil organizations and non-state actors 1. Launch campaigns at all levels and raise the issue of freeing all student political prisoners. And also note the education crisis that is taking place, in Burma. 2. Express your solidarity with the student union activists of Burma, and support their movements for student rights, educational reforms and, more importantly, the road to democracy.

Foreign Affairs Committee All Burma Federation of Student Unions 2004 Yearly Report on Education Issue in February 2005

==============================================================

APPENDIX Appendix I

Unofficial Translation of the Trial Report of Aung Gyi and Fellow Defendants NB {Words in brackets are by the translator} Criminal Court of Justice, Insein prison 7 January 2004 Criminal Trail No 1347 – Year 2003

Prosecutor: Police Second Lieutenant Ye Nyunt Defendants: Three people, including Aung Gyi Township Legal Officer: Htay Win Defendants charged with the 1962 Printer and Publisher Act 17/20.

Verdict The prosecutor, Second Lieutenant Ye Nyunt of the Police Special Bureau, has accused three people, including Aung Gyi, of committing an offence under the 1962 law relating to the Printer and Publisher Act, section 17/20. He wants action to be taken against them accordingly. The defendants Aung Gyi - second year law student at Dagon University Nan Shinn Mon - first year law student at Dagon University Myo Than Tun - second year economic student at Dagon University The defendants are accused of publishing “The Statement of the University Students Union”

unofficially, in June 2003, and three poetry books entitled "Equalibrium of Step Tune" (Arr Hmya Chay Than Sin), " Foreword" (Ni Dan) and "About the Stars, not meant to be Day" (Nay Ma Me Thaw Kyel Tar Yar Myar Ah Kyaung). In July 2003, they distributed one hundred copies of “The Statement of the University Students' Union” throughout the following universities (the statements were printed on computer):University of West Yangon Dagon University Institute of Marine Technology Government Technology College (Hmaw-bi) Institute of Economics It is important to note that they published the books unofficially, as mentioned earlier. With regards to the above information, Second Lieutenant Ye Nyunt, from the Information Unit, presented his case – that the three, under the 1962 Printer and Publisher Act 17/20, should be found guilty. Prosecution Witnesses:

-

Police Sergeant Tin Kyaing, who seized paper sheets including “The Statement of the Union of University Students”

-

Police Second Lieutenant Ye Tun

-

Win Min, who copied the statements

-

Ma San San Yee, who typed the statements on computer

-

U Win Tin, Member of quarter authority

-

Police Second Lieutenant: Ye Nyunt (also prosecutor)

-

Searching witnesses: U Phoe Tha Aung and U Win Ni

-

Printing and distribution Department Chief Officer: U Than Aung

-

Searchers: Police Second Lieutenant Kyaw Naing Soe and Police Second Lieutenant Tun Soe Thein

The above persons presented a combined statement which declared that the University Students' Union was not officially registered, or in accordance with section-6 of the bylaw. Furthermore, under bylaw 3(2), if a person wants to publish a statement they must seek

permission by law; if there is no official registration of a statement, the persons concerned may be found liable under the 1962 Printer and Publisher Act 17/20. Aung Gyi pleaded that other students were carrying out similar acts, and therefore he felt that he could do the same. Nan Shinn Mon pleaded that senior students from the universities had been publishing articles previous to their offence. Myo Than Htut pleaded that he did not know that he was committing an offence. The upholding witnesses did not submit any statements. After examining both sides of the case, the judge found all three defendants guilty, in regards to the following evidence:

-

Aung Gyi's statement "War Declaration(1)" : (k)

-

The statement of Nan Shinn Mon: (l)

Even though the defendants pleaded that they had not committed an offence, the prosecutor argued that this was not a plausible enough reason and it was not in accordance with the law. The poetry books, which were published earlier by other students, did not contain any political tones and were merely about teenagers' natural feelings; as a result, the official authorities did not charge those involved. However, in the case of the poetry book written by the three accused, it was found to contain lyrics that were disrespectful to the military (Tatmadaw) and therefore broke the 1962 Printer and Publishers Act 17/20. Later, the three defendants repeated the statements that they had made in the court of law, (k), (l) and (m), in front of MI unit 6. They bore witness to a section of Act 24, saying that their case was similar to the case of “The Union of Burma and two persons, including U Ye Naung” which took place in 1991 and was judged in accordance with the Burma penal code, page 63. It was found that the three were university students who, during their study time, carried out political activities and did not concern themselves with student activities. Therefore, their actions opposed the authorities' aims and objectives. They were found guilty under the 1962 Printer and Publisher Act 17/20.

Sentence: Aung Gyi, son of U Zin Aung, and Nan Shinn Mon, son of U Htan Do Khin, are each sentenced to 4 years imprisonment with hard labour because they committed an offence under the Printer and Publisher Act, section 17/20. Myo Than Htut, son of U Win Maung are also each sentenced to 4 years imprisonment with hard labour because they committed an offence under the Printer and Publisher Act, section 17, and to a further 4 years imprisonment with hard labour because they committed an offence under the Printer and Publisher Act, section 20. In both cases, their detention period is included within the sentence. U Ohn Lwin (LL. B) Township Judge (special power) Township Court, Dagon Myo Thit (South) Township

Appendix II

Tuesday February 10, 7:08 AM Asia has highest number of children out of school: UNESCO PARIS (AFP) - Asia accounts for the biggest number of children in the world not receiving a school education, despite steady increases in enrolment in the 1990s, according to a statistical report released by UNESCO. The report, based on official 2000 and 2001 education figures for 22 countries in South and East Asia, said that "an estimated 46 million primary school-age children are out of school, and more girls (28 million) than boys (18 million) are excluded from primary education." With an estimated 104 million children out of school, Asia accounted for 45 percent of the worldwide total, just ahead of sub-Saharan Africa, where 42 percent of children are not enrolled, the report said. The South and East Asia region studied stretches from China to East Timor, and from Iran to the Philippines. The zone is home to 3.24 billion people, or more than half the world's total, including more than a billion each in China and India. Although school enrollments rose "substantially" between 1990 and 2000, the statistics showed that several countries had a high number of primary school dropouts. "In India, the Lao People's Democratic Republic and Myanmar, only half the children who enter primary school will reach grade five, indicating a dropout rate of 53 percent, 47 percent and 45 percent respectively," with Nepal, Cambodia and Bangladesh close behind, the report said. As schooling progresses, the gender gap widens, the reports' authors found. Often negligible at primary level, the disparity in Asia between the numbers of male versus female students reached 61 percent to 39 percent at university. "East Asian countries accounted for approximately two-thirds of total enrolment, in large

measure due to China, where the total tertiary enrolment exceeds that of all the countries of South and West Asia combined (12.1 and 11.3 million students, respectively)," the report noted. While China's tertiary enrolment looked to be improving to the levels of the region's leaders - Macau, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia -- some countries were struggling at the bottom of the list, namely Afghanistan, Cambodia and Laos. The preferred fields of study among university students in the region slanted towards social sciences, business and law. The exception was Brunei, where 49 percent opted for education studies.

Appendix III

(Unofficial translation) District Court of Monywa 7 July 2003 Criminal Trial No 4518 of 2003 Complainant -Police Deputy Director Tin Win Accused - Chan Tha Gyaw (a) Pyu Tu (minor) Counsel for complainant - Daw Hla Hla Win (Deputy Township Law Officer) Counsel for accused – himself. (Meaning unrepresented). Charge under Section 333/114 Law of Crimes. Judgment 1) On 30th May 2003, at 16:30 hours, Police Deputy Director Tin Win and his security police force requested blocking trouble makers (about 150 people, including monks) from Monywa not to join Daw Suu Kyi’s party which had already arrived at Butalin side. Some disgruntled monks went back to Monywa and mustered up more rowdies (altogether there was a mob of 250 monks and 50 lay people). Though the President of the Sangha's Nayaka appealed to them, they did not move. They threw stones and pelted stones with catapults, which hit some of the security forces, who were seriously injured. The complaint was lodged by Deputy Director Tin Win and marked as Exhibit “A”. He asked for action to be taken against the accused Chan Tha Gyaw (a) Pyu Tu, whose age is not quite 16 years and is being tried separately as a minor. 2) The complainant has produced 24 witnesses, himself included. Witness Number 1, the complainant, repeated the facts as recorded in his complaint and went on to say that the accused was one of those who threw and pelted stones with a catapult. Witness No 2, Deputy Superintendent Thet Oo Naing was a member of the security force on duty and his evidence was the same as set out in the complainant, and confirmed the evidence that was given by the complainant. Witness No 4, U Pyu Saung (Chairman of the Ahlone Ward PDC) is one of those in authority and responsible for security. He gave evidence corroborating the

complaint. Witness No 5, U Ngwe Soe Lwin (Chairman of Yonegyi Village PDC) testified that he was aware that the family of the accused resided in Yone gyi Ward, that he had received information that on 30th May 2003, security forces were injured by thrown stones and that Chan Tha Gyaw was arrested because he was involved. He said that his parents may not have known about Chan Tha Gyaw’s involvement. He had recently sat for his 10th standard examinations and it is quite likely that his parents have no control over him. Medical evidence given by Dr Naing Lin (witness No 7), Dr. Thet Myat Zaw (witness No 8), Dr. Aung Kyaw Soe (witness No 9) was to the effect that they had attended to the injuries of security members Soe Myint Thein, Hlaing Kyaw Uranus Win, Soe Min Hteik, Aung Myo Than, Hlaing Win, Ye Naing and Mg Lwin U (Deputy Police Superintendent). According to their evidence Police Constable Ye Naing’s front tooth on the left side was loose and it had to be extracted. Witnesses No 3 and 10, Police Superintendents Zaw Min and Khin Maung Zin were the investigating officers. They gave evidence to the effect that, through their investigations, it was discovered that the accused was involved in the crime. 3. Ten prosecution witnesses were examined and because there was substantial evidence to charge the accused, who was charged under section 333/114 of the Law of Crimes. The accused was asked if he pleaded “guilty” or “not guilty”. He pleaded “not guilty” explaining that he was no where near the scene of the crime, but had watched the events from a distance. He gave evidence on his own behalf and said that on the 30th May 2003 at about 3:30 p.m. he heard that there was a confrontation between monks and the security forces at Ahlone, so together with his friends he went on bicycles to the little bridge near the Kanoo pagoda, which is in Ahlone on the Monywa Butalin Road. He watched the monks throwing stones at the police. He was at a distance of 10 cubits (10 feet) away from the stone throwing monks. After one hour of watching he heard gun shots so he left. He was not one of those who threw stones. He only watched them and was therefore not guilty of the crime. He produced no witnesses. On examination of the witnesses on both sides there is no dispute that the accused was present at the place where the monks were throwing stones at the police. There is evidence that security forces sustained body injuries. The injury to Constable Ye Naing was serious. Prosecution witness Number 1 (U Tin Win), and No 2 (Thet Naing U, Deputy Police Superintendent) testified that the accused was among the stone throwers. Though the accused denied this he had no witness to support his evidence. The fact that he arrived at the scene is sufficient evidence to show he was aiding and abetting the offenders. He

himself may not have thrown stones by he is equally responsible as those who did. 4. The Court referred to the report from the Juvenile Supervisor regarding the minor’s character and found that the accused is not capable of making a mature judgment and under the influence of his peers went to the scene of the crime. In order that he can have a good character his parents or guardian should be made to sign a 3 year bond or he should be sent to a juvenile institution. This is a case where in the performance of their duties public servants have sustained grievous injuries and the accused had aided and abetted those committing the crime. The Juvenile Supervisor has also remarked that to build a good character the minor should be sent to a Juvenile Institution or that he return to his parents under bond. So that he will not remain under the influence of his peers, and for the building of a good character, I pronounce this sentence. Sentence I find Chan Tha Gyaw, son of U Khin Maung Tin (resident of Kandawgyi road, Yonegyi Ward, Monywa town guilty under Section 333/113 and I sentence him under the Juvenile Act Section 47 (d) to be detained in the Juvenile Correctional School at Hngeawson, Yangon till 4/10/2005 until he reaches 18 years old. Exhibits in this case to be destroyed at the expiry of the appeal period. Signed /- Bai Be (Township Judge)

Appendix IV

Burmese tuition teachers told to stay clear of politics Private tuition teachers in Karen State, eastern Burma had been summoned by the local authorities and warmed to stay clear of politics, or else their teaching license will be revoked and withdrawn from them. A local tuition teacher from the state’s capital Pa-an told DVB that the warning is an indirect attempt to restrict and pressurise the local National League for Democracy (NLD) elected representative (MP) Daw Nan Khin Htway Myint who is also a private tuition teacher by profession. Before, only civil servants including teachers working for the government were told not to get involved in politics and the latest effort of the junta, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) is one of the examples of the various means used by the junta to pressurise and destroy the NLD. Last month, several tuition teachers who are members of NLD were banned from teaching by the authorities in upper Burma. Observers say that the ban would only hurt the pupils most as they are not properly taught by teachers at the government schools and the best teachers tend to open their own private tuition classes. DVB : 7thSeptember 2004

Appendix V Student protest at Mandalay Computer College The impromptu protest which was staged by students at Mandalay Computer College in central Burma grew from 100 students to around 400 students, according eyewitnesses. The protest occurred because on 17 March the college administration issued a list of 170 students from 2nd and 3rd year classes barred from taking the forthcoming final examination for failure to meet the minimum 75 per cent attendance requirement. On 18 March, more than 70 students arrived at the front of the administration building in the afternoon and demanded that they be allowed to take the examination. Some students stopped and blocked the main entrance of the campus with cars and motorcycles, while some shouted their demands. The college’s rector U Soe Myint personally promised to write to the Education Minister to allow all the students to participate in the examination. According to a student, the protest lasted till dark and the students dispersed peacefully after some of the anxious parents picked up their children. So far, nothing has been done by the authorities. Mandalay Computer College is built in the middle of nowhere – more than 30 miles from Mandalay between Kyaukse and Sinkgaing. No hostels were provided and the students had to make a strenuous effort to attend college by the city bus. Since a small number of college ferry buses could not cope with a large student population, most students attend classes only three days a week thus failed to meet the minimum 75 per cent attendance requirement. A similar incident recently occurred at Shwepyitha Computer University in Rangoon. More than 200 students staged a protest because children of senior military officers were permitted to sit for the exam from among the students barred from taking the final exam for failure to meet the minimum attendance requirement. In early March, more than 300 students from Myitkyina University in Kachin State clashed with the local police and the military had to intervene to quell the protest. Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 GMT 21March 04

Appendix VI

Burma junta using school children to build roads The army of SPDC has been forcing school children in Karen state to participate in road building projects causing work-related accidents and educational loss on children. A 14-year old Karen girl Naw Moo Hla told DVB that she broke her hand while carrying stones and earth to build a road connecting Kyauktaung Village and Htilon Village in Hlaingbwe Township, Karen State and she is now receiving treatments at Mae Taw Clinic near Maesod in Thailand because the army refused to treat her in Burma. This stretch of road building has been under the command of Colonel Soe Hla of Regiment 28 and the people from 20 villages around the area have been forced to ‘volunteer’ in the project without pay. School children are forced to miss their classes and subsistence farmers have to ignore their essential works in the paddy fields when forced to ‘volunteer’ for the army. Each session of volunteering tends to last up to five days. The volunteers start to work non-stop from 6am until noon when they are allowed to eat their lunch and rest for an hour and resume their slave labour until late in the evening. School children are told to work in quarries to extract stones by smashing boulders and carry them on their heads to the sites. Similarly, school children are also used as unpaid ‘volunteers’ in many projects set up by the army at Papun, Kawkareik, Myawaddy and Kya-Inn- Seiggyi Townships in Karen State. DVB : 19 May 2004

Appendix VII

(Excerpt from Concluding Observations: Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 44 of the Convention, Thirty-Sixth Session, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, dated on 4thJune 2004/ CRC/C/15/Add.237)

7. Education, leisure and cultural activities 1. The Committee welcomes the launch in 2000 of the Special Four-Year Plan for Education (2000/01–2003/04) aimed at promoting basic education sector, and of the “Education for All” National Action Plan introduced in 2003 which is aimed specifically on “access, quality and relevance” of education, but remains seriously concerned at the following problematic aspects of the existing education system: (a) Low quality of education reflected in the high repetition and drop-out rates, which affect more girls than boys; (b) Significant variation that exists in school enrolment between urban and rural areas, and that the enrolment of children belonging to minority groups is particularly low; (c) The limited length of compulsory education, which ends at 4th Grade; (d) Free primary education is not guaranteed in practice, as parents are required to cover the costs of uniforms, textbooks, stationery and other supplies; and (e) Majority of schools in Myanmar do not provide a conducive learning environment for children due to, inter alia, the poor conditions of the buildings, the poor quality of teaching/learning methodologies, and the shortage of qualified teachers. 2. The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Improve the quality of the education system with a view to achieving the aims mentioned in article 29.1 of the Convention and the Committee's General Comments on the aims of education; (b) Introduce human rights, including children's rights, into the school curricula, starting at the primary level; (c) Ensure that primary education free in practice by minimising all costs borne by parents; (d) Extend the years of the compulsory education beyond 4th Grade to at least 6th Grade; (e) Strengthen its efforts to progressively ensure that girls as well as boys, from

urban, rural and remote areas, and those children belonging to minority groups all have equal access to educational opportunities; (f) Adapt school curriculum to suit the particularities of the local communities, in particular, for ethnic minority groups, and make use of local teachers to help children who are experiencing language difficulties; (g) Take necessary measures to remedy the low quality of education and to ensure efficiency in the management of education, in particular, by significantly increasing the resources allocated to education, hiring more qualified teachers and providing them with more opportunities for training; (h) Raise awareness of the importance of early childhood education and introducing it into the general framework of education; (i) In light of article 12, encourage participation of children at all levels of school life; (j) Build better infrastructure for schools; and (k) Seek assistance from UNICEF and UNESCO in the implementation of the above.

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Bibliography

Publications and Booklets 1. Belak, Brenda. “Gathering Strength: Women from Burma on Their Rights”, Images Asia, January, 2003. 2. University Entrance Guide Booklets (2003 and 2004), Ministry of Education, Union of Myanmar. Reports and Treaties 1. Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar, 2002-2004. 2. ‘The Convention on the Rights of the Child’, United Nations. 3. ‘Dakar Framework of Action’, adopted by representatives of governments and nonsate actors, World Education Forum, Dakar, Senegal, 26-28th April, 2000. 4. Concluding Observations: Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 44 of the Convention, Thirty-Sixth Session, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, dated on 4thJune 2004/ CRC/C/15/Add.237. 5. ‘United Nations Millennium Declaration’, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, September, 2000. 6. Shan Human Rights Foundation Reports, 2003. Newspapers and News Agencies 1. New Light of Myanmar, 2003-2004 2. Kao-Wao News Agency, 2003-2004 3. Independent Mon News Agency, 2003

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