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The BurmaNet News: July 2, 1999



------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: July 2, 1999
Issue #1306

HEADLINES:
==========
KNU: CLARIFICATION 
CRPP: NOTIF. 38 - MP, IRRAWADDY DIVISION 
ABFSU: POLITICAL PRISONERS EXTENDED SENTENCES
ALIN: MERCENARY LABOUR UNIONS OF IMPERIALISM 
ICFTU-APRO: INDIAN GOV BANS DEMOCRACY CONF 
THE IRRAWADDY: LEARNING IN LIMBO 
****************************************************************

KAREN NATIONAL UNION: CLARIFICATION 
1 July, 1999 from mandalay@xxxxxxxxxx 

The Director
C/o CCT
Department of Information
Karen National Union (KNU)

Regarding the bomb attack on a passenger bus on the motor road between the
border town of Myawady  and Kawkareik town, in the Karen state, on June 23,
1999, the Information Department of the KNU has to clarify as follows.

Troops of the military dictatorship of Burma, the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC), have maintained a tight security on the whole
stretch of motor road mentioned above. The place where the attack occurred
was between two sentry posts of the SPDC troops.

The transport businesses are operated the SPDC army, the Democratic Kayin
Buddhist Army (DKBA), a puppet army of the SPDC, and a few private
operators. All the transport operators make high profits because of the
border trade, and as a result, there has been fierce competition among them.

The bus attacked was owned by a civilian. It was probable that a civilian
was operating in this highly competitive field by paying enough protection
money to some SPDC military officer in the higher echelon.

Nowadays, income for the bus operators, SPDC army or otherwise, has
dwindled due to worsening economic situations. Apparently, it was either
the SPDC or the DKBA operators, who were responsible for the attack, with
the intention of eliminating competition.

The KNU has never had a policy to deliberately attack civilians and
moreover, it has not had any conflict of interest with the bus operators,
in order to commit such a wantonly attack. Even if the KNU had wanted to do
something on the road, like bomb attack, which required placing a bomb on
the road or a few meters from it, the tightness of the security measures,
maintained by the SPDC, would have precluded the approach of its troops
even a few hundred meters of the road. Any speculations about the
involvement of the KNU in the attack were totally false.

At the same time, the KNU Department of Information would like to say that
some news agencies, including the AP and the Reuters, has been reporting
very speculative and unconfirmed reports about the KNU. The
well-established news services like them should be extremely careful to
avoid being biased or becoming crap journalism. Even if their sources are
KNU personnel, they have to know that there are some corrupt ones. The
situation being as such, they should try to get in touch with genuine KNU
spokespersons, in case there is a need to confirm.

There have been many groups, such as the pro-SPDC lobbies or individuals
with an axe to grind with the SPDC [sic], who have been attempting to paint
the KNU as a terrorist organization, manipulating the fact that the KNU has
to maintain an armed wing.


Since a long time, it has been the position of the KNU that all conflicts
concerning political and ethnic problems in the country must be resolved
peacefully by political means. After the democratic revolution in Burma,
this position of the KNU has become firmer. The armed resistance of the
Karen people, led by KNU, is entirely for self-defence and ethnic survival.
In face of a genocidal war waged by the SPDC and its predecessors, the KNU
has no other choice. The armed resistance of the Karen people, led by the
KNU, is neither for ethnic rights, separation, autonomy, Karen land,
freedom nor for democracy. It is purely for self-defense and survival. 

****************************************************************

COMMITTEE REPRESENTING THE PEOPLE'S PARLIAMENT: NOTIFICATION 38
28 June, 1999 

Committee representing members of People's Parliament elected in the 1990
multi-party general elections (Committee Representing People's Parliament)

NOTIFICATION 38( 6/99) (translation)

1.  The National League for Democracy, a duly registered and legally
constituted political organisation has the legal right to discharge its
political duties. In the May 1990 multiparty general elections, the people
overwhelmingly showed their support for the League by electing NLD
candidates as their Hluttaw representatives.  Their positions were duly
published in the nation's gazette, hence they have been acknowledged as
legal Pyithu Hluttaw representatives.

2.  As long as the Pyithu Hluttaw is not established, no individual, or
group of individuals, or organisation has the right or authority to remove
any representative through orchestrated demonstrations or in any way
signify or cause the electorate to signify non-support by any means
whatsoever whether it be by use of force, intimidation etc. Pyithu Hluttaw
representatives cannot on their own volition relinquish their duties except
in accordance with law.  Only the Pyithu Hluttaw can expel a Hluttaw
representative or grant permission to resign as prescribed by law.

3. The orchestration of demonstrations by individuals or organisations
signifying non-support or loss of confidence against a legally elected
Pyithu Hluttaw representative is against all international norms and
practices.  It contravenes the Myanmar Registration of Political Parties
law and Pyithu Hluttaw Elections law. It destroys the concept of the rule
of law. It is an abuse of authority by the lawmakers who are transgressing
the laws they have decreed.

4. These are matters that should never happen in a country because it
undermines the national character and is counterproductive marking a very
dark period in our history. Such activities will do nothing for national
reconciliation of for unity among the nationalities. Grave consideration
should be given to this fact.

5.  Turning its back on the grave repercussions of such activities, the
authorities are in the process of employing a group of people to
orchestrate such demonstrations against NLD Hluttaw representatives.

6.  Present information is that preparations for a demonstration against U
Win Myint, Hluttaw parliamentarian elect (Irrawaddy division, Da-nu-byu
township, constituency 1) are being put in place. The number of valid votes
received by him at the polls was 20,388 (55.57%).


7.  Preparations for that shouting demonstration that is being forced upon
the people are as follows:-

(a) The authorities of the administrative unit of Sa-Ka-Gyi village met
with U Soe Win, the Secretary of the Union Solidarity and Development
Association (USDA) and his group on the 2 June 1999 at a site in the
vicinity of the administration office. Instructions were given that the
USDA members should visit every house in the area to get their signatures
to be presented at the staged shouting demonstrations.

(b) Information received is that on 3 June, one U Win Ko and his group from
Let-swe-kyaung village tract which is within the jurisdiction of Sa-Ka-Gyi
participated in this field work.

(c) On the same day (3 June, 1999) in the village tract of Taunggyi
(Tha-byu administrative unit), U Tin Cho (authority chairman), an executive
committee member of the USDO (name unknown) and U Aung Nyunt of National
Unity Party (NUP) party were joined by heads of ten house group and one
hundred house group in forcing 18 year olds and above to sign prepared forms.

(d) On 6 June 1999, all 18 year olds and above were forced to put their
signatures to prepared forms in the villages under the jurisdiction of the
administrative unit of San-kin by members of the USDO.

(e) On 6 June 1999, the villagers residing in the Tha-byu village tract had
to assemble in the village library and were threatened to signify their
non-support for U Win Myint, Hluttaw representative elect by signing
prepared forms. They were warned that non-compliance would result in grave
consequences for which they would have themselves to blame.  The organisers
of this exercise were U Kyaw Win (authority chairman), U San Aung (USDO
member), U Tun Nyunt (one hundred-house leader), U Aye Maung and U Mya Soe.

(f) In Tee-kwe village tract which is not part of U Win Myint's electorate,
one U Aung Ngwe of the Ta-Sa-Nya party and one Ko Ne Win (USDA leader)
collected the household lists and made the villagers assemble at the
Buddhist monastery where they were forced to sign prepared forms.

8.  The Pyithu Hluttaw Election law contains no provision for such use of
excessive authority, of misrepresentation and intimidation to undermine,
disparage and extinguish the position of Pyithu Hluttaw members.

9.  Orgainsers, participants and aides and abettors of such lawless
activities are contravening provisions of the Penal Code, 1950 Emergency
Provisions Act, and Law 5/96.  We vehemently denounce such activities.

Committee Representing People's Parliament

Rangoon
28 June 1999.

(Responsibility for distribution and publication is taken by the NLD). 

****************************************************************

ALL BURMA FEDERATION OF STUDENT UNIONS: POLITICAL PRISONERS GIVEN EXTENDED
SENTENCES
28 June, 1999 from bakatha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 

Student prisoners and NLD-youth member given extended prison sentences and
tortured by State Peace and Development Council

In August and September 1998, demonstrations by the students resulted in
another crackdown by the Military Junta. Many students involved in the
activities went into hiding and were later caught and arrested and
subsequently sentenced to long prison terms ranging from 10 to 52 years.
While awaiting their sentencing, the students were detained in Military
Intelligence Service (MIS) interrogation camps where many were tortured and
sustained severe injuries. Some of the students and their sentences are as
follows:


Ko Thet Win Aung

He was an underground (UG) participant in the 1998 student demonstrations.
In September 1998, Ko Thet Win Aung was arrested by MIS and sentenced to
(52) years imprisonment under the Insein Prison Code. He was given an
additional one-year term and is serving his sentence in Myitkyina Prison.

Ko Myo Min Zaw

A second-year English Major, Hlang Campus, Ko Myo Min Zaw was arrested by
MIS for participating in the student demonstrations. He went into hiding
where he tried to organize another student demonstration when MIS caught
him. He was accused of agitating unrest and originally given a sentence of
38 years, which has since been increased to 52 years. Now he is staying at
Bassein Prison.

Ko Aye Aung

A second-year Physics major, Distance Education University (Dagon
University) and one of the main leaders of the demonstrations, he was
arrested in hiding in Rangoon together with Ko Myo Min Zaw by MIS and
sentenced to an imprisonment of 14 years. After a second interrogation, MIS
added another 10 years. He is serving his sentence at Kalay Prison.

Ko Yan Aung Soe

He was arrested by MIS and originally sentenced to 14 years but was given
an additional 10 years and is being detained at Myingyan Prison.

Ko Bo Bo

A member of the National League for Democracy-Youth (NLD-Y), MIS caught and
sentenced him to a 7-year term for joining the student movement. Recently,
we have learned from sources inside Burma that Ko Bo Bo was tortured having
had his fingers smashed and broken during a second interrogation by the MIS.

Foreign Affairs' committee
All Burma Federation of Student Unions. 

****************************************************************

MYANMAR ALIN: MERCENARY LABOUR UNIONS OF IMPERIALISM 
9 June, 1999 

[Part II.  Part I appeared in The BurmaNet News, June 30, 1999, Issue
#1304. Myanmar Alin is a state-run newspaper in Rangoon.  Translated from
Burmese, abridged.]

[Regarding the "Western neocolonialist clique" that is "forming sham labor
organizations."]  That is correct. True to their capitalist nature they
oppress the workers. That was the reason why a labor strike to demand for
shorter working hours and better wages was held in Chicago. The Labor Day
or May Day celebrated on 1 May is to commemorate that event. The capitalist
Western bloc also attacked socialist countries and socialism which upheld
the interests of the workers and the peasantry above others. Workers
worldwide are laughing at them now because they are forming free labor
organizations and pretending to have the interests of the labor at heart.

Karlu: That must be true because I remember reading a report about a press
conference held at the end of June in 1997. It concerned bomb explosions
and terrorist acts within Myanmar conducted by the exiles based in a
neighboring country and in the United States. It was about a parcel bomb
(bomb packed in a book) sent to the home of Secretary-2 [Lt. Gen. Tin Oo],
about the bomb that exploded at Buddha's Myat Swe Daw site [at Kaba-Aye
Pagoda in Rangoon], and attempts to place bombs at some embassies to create
misunderstanding with Myanmar. You must have read about them too, Apho.


Apho: Of course, not only did I read it, I remember it well too. It
concerned Pyithit Nyunt Wai, alias Maung Maung, the son of U Nyunt Wai, a
member of the Central Executive Committee of the National League for
Democracy [NLD]. Maung Maung took the instructions from exile Sein Win
[head of the exile National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma]
based in Washington and formed the so-called free labor movement or the
FTUB [Federation of Trade Unions-Burma] to create labor unrest in Myanmar.
The group has only about two to three exiles as members, including Pyithit
Nyunt Wai, alias Maung Maung. There are no workers in the group. When the
ILO held a so-called conference of democratic workers unions in October
1995, Sein Win made the arrangements with the masters in Washington to
enable Maung Maung to attend it.

Karlu: Pyithit Nyunt Wai got sacked from the Myanmar Gems Enterprise for
misappropriation while he was working in Yangon. He felt bitter over it and
that was why he went underground. He has been operating under the name of
the free labor movement or the FTUB to carry out subversive activities and
to create labor unrest in Myanmar. Sein Win sent a satellite phone to
Pyithit Nyunt Wai.

Apho: I will give you a book on the CIA so that you can read about it. You
will find in that the CIA created labor unrest in African countries to
bring down the governments they disliked. The book is entitled, "Once Again
about CIA". It deals with how American capitalist companies oppressed the
workers and how they imposed their control on African countries. The
workers then formed unions to fight for labor rights. The CIA bought the
union leaders and tried to control them.

Karlu: That's how the Western bloc does things, isn't it?

Apho: The CIA gave large sums of funds to the African labor leaders and
turned them into people who represent the American capitalists rather than
the African labor masses. The American Federation of Labor and Congress of
Industrial Organizations, AFL-CIO, which received funds from the CIA, set
up regional labor organizations, financed them, and stirred up labor unrest.

Karlu: Does that mean that the AFL-CIO is a tool of the CIA?

Apho: Yes, the CIA's labor organization formed the Afro-American Labor
Center, AALC, and is stirring problems in Africa. The AALC brings together
mercenary labor leaders who would represent the American companies in
Africa. At the same time, they destroy the unity of the real labor unions.

Karlu: Who funds these organizations? Is it also the CIA?

Apho: The AFL-CIO, which has a lot of CIA money, funds these organizations.
The USAID also does that. The NED [National Endowment for Democracy] also
obtains CIA funds and supports and controls the so-called unions in Africa.
The AALC chooses the regional labor leaders that they could use and sends
them to the United States for training. Pyithit Nyunt Wai's FTUB is also
being supported and used by the CIA.

Karlu: Recently the AFL-CIO and the FTUB made some arrangements in Bangkok
to hold a conference on democracy and labor affairs in Myanmar. The
conference was probably about how the NLD was being oppressed and about
forced labor practices in Myanmar. But, Apho, since the Thai Government did
not agree, the exiles, the CIA, the AFL-CIO and the Amnesty International
raised a big hue and cry and blamed the Thai Government over it.


Apho: Yes, it was quite evident who are working together to disrupt
Myanmar. At the 13th Conference of the ASEAN Labor Ministers in Myanmar,
Secretary-1 Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt said there was no forced labor in Myanmar.
Labor Affairs Minister Maj. Gen. Tin Ngwe also explained the matter in
detail. The two of them said the right to summon people for voluntary labor
under the urban and village laws had been in place since the time of the
British colonial government. But we do not use those laws in our country.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has already issued an order that people
summoned to work for economic projects must be given wages. Subversive
elements overseas know about this but are purposely adopting a
we-say-what-we-like attitude.

Karlu: I have read some articles that say the reason for insisting that
there is forced labor in spite of the fact that workers do get paid for
their labor in Myanmar is to create a situation where the government will
be afraid of asking the workers to work. If the government dare not ask
them to work, they will starve and if they starve, there will be
dissatisfaction against the government, and there will unrest and the
government will fall. This is what the subversive elements inside and
outside the country are conspiring about.

Apho: The Myanmar people know their underhanded tricks very well. Everybody
can see today that the members of the Defense Services are working on new
roads and railways. We, the Myanmar people, have the tradition of
volunteering for projects that concern the betterment of our own roads,
village, town and nation. It is contribution of labor based on true
goodwill. We believe that working in the interest of the many will make us
successful in pursuing our own interests. That is the reason you see people
happily playing the drums and dancing when they volunteer for projects of
the state. Today, the exiles and the subversive elements overseas are
trying to do away with the noble tradition of the Myanmar people.

Karlu: Please don't worry, Apho. Since the State has already issued an
order to pay all working hands in economic projects, workers will get paid
for their work. But they will continue to contribute labor on their own
free time, out of good will, and in the interests of their own regions
because this is the custom of our Myanmar people. We all understand what
wages for labor and what merit-making through labor mean.

Apho: What you say is true. It is very important to clearly see the group
of destructive elements that are interfering in our internal affairs and
creating labor problems in Myanmar, the organizational name they use to
operate under, and the people who are supporting and controlling them. As
you already know, their intention is to impoverish Myanmar, create unrest
and enthrone their puppets and ax-handles. Later, the neo-colonialists and
imperialists will pull the strings from behind and exploit us. People at
the rallies held to gather public opinion have openly and decisively
declared that they will not let anyone disrupt peace and stability and the
all-round development that have been achieved so far in our nation.
Whatever they do from outside the country will not affect us. So, what you
need is just to do what your duty dictates.


****************************************************************

INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF FREE TRADE UNIONS - ASIA PACIFIC REGIONAL
ORGANIZATION: INDIAN GOVERNMENT BANS DEMOCRACY CONFERENCE 
30 June, 1999 by Takashi Izumi

[From rod@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

In an unexpected move, the Government of India has effectively banned the
holding of an international trade union conference titled "Democracy for
Burma". The Conference was scheduled to be held in Calcutta from 6-8 July
1999.

The Indian authorities have withdrawn visa approvals in some instances,
frustrated or refused applications in others and advised that permission to
hold the conference "has not been approved from political angle".

Those, both in India and in the international community, who subscribe to
the principles of democracy and freedom should be particularly concerned --
by their action the Indian Government both condones, and prolongs, the
atrocities, which include arbitrary imprisonment, murder, rape and torture
as well as the persistent use of forced labour by the Burma military junta
on large sections of the Burmese people, particularly those involved in the
struggle for democracy.

The struggle for the restoration of democracy and freedom in Burma will
continue. Not only through the international trade union movement but also
through the many governments and non-governmental organisations on a
world-wide basis that support these principals. The stand taken by the
Indian Government is a slur on its credibility as the world's supposedly
largely democracy and will be viewed with dismay by fair-minded peoples and
governments everywhere.

Takashi Izumi, General Secretary

****************************************************************

THE IRRAWADDY: LEARNING IN LIMBO 
May, 1999 by Win Htein 

Vol. 7, No. 4

Win Htein writes on efforts by Burmese in exile to find ways to educate a
neglected generation.

Some young people in a thatch hut in a camp on the Thai-Burma border are
debating the educational problems facing young people in Burma today. "We
must improve our education level and then change the curriculum in all
schools in the liberated area," declared one student with emotion.

This subject was being discussed during a brief one-off seminar on the
current education situation in Burma organized by the All Burma Students
Democratic Front (ABSDF). Most ABSDF members never graduated from
university because they were deprived of their right to continue their
education for participating in the 8-8-88 demonstrations. 

In Rangoon, the army closed all universities after the 8-8-88 uprising. In
the past decade, universities have been open for a total of only about two
years. They were re-opened briefly following elections in 1990, but then
shut down again after students demonstrated to show their support for Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi when she won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. The universities
have been closed most of the time since December 1996, when protests were
held at the Rangoon Institute of Technology. Protests by RIT students
during the brief reopening of universities for examinations in August 1998
probably mean that they will not be opened again soon.


"While students in open societies are debating whether education should be
for business or knowledge, students in Burma don't even have the right to
go to university. It's a very sad situation for the generation of Burmese
who will be leading the country in the future," lamented a Burmese lecturer
at Assumption Business Administration College in Bangkok.

More than 500 Burmese professors and lecturers teach at universities in
Thailand, while thousands more teach in the US, Europe, Japan and other
countries. Most left their native country because there were no jobs for
them at Burmese universities, or because they could not stand working under
military supervisors with no understanding of educational matters.
Extremely poor salaries are another reason many leave Burma.

"My monthly salary at Rangoon University was 1750 kyat (about six dollars),
while a meal in the market cost nearly 100 kyat. How could I live on just
my own income? I still had to get money from my parents," said a lecturer
in an interview with the Democratic Voice of Burma. She now earns nearly
20,000 baht (about US$500) a month at a Thai university, where she also has
her own computer with an Internet connection. Now, she says, she can even
afford to send some money to her parents.

"STUDENTS ARE THEIR ENEMIES"

Instead of helping lecturers to become better educators, the emphasis of
"teacher training" under the military regime is learning how to control
students in order to prevent them from participating in demonstrations. 

"They warned us that if one of our students joins a protest, we will be
sent to jail for six months," said a lecturer who is now working in
Thailand. "In the generals' minds, the students are their enemies."

A dramatic example of this mindset at work was General Ne Win's destruction
of the Students Union Building at Rangoon University on July 7, 1962. The
dictator evidently wanted to make his attitude towards the students
abundantly clear. 

"Ne Win and his Tamadaw (military) men have never had a good view of
students. They are psychopaths who are afraid of educated people. They only
want uneducated people who will obey their commands in Burma," commented Dr
Mya Maung from Boston College, who worked for many years as a teacher at
the Defense Services Academy in Maymyo.

Soon after the State Law and Order Council (Slorc) took power in 1988,
Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, the powerful first secretary of the ruling junta, became
the chairman of the National Education Committee. He is also the chief of
the Military Intelligence Service (MIS), which orders teachers to spy on
their students. These facts alone do a great deal to explain why the
education system in Burma is in such bad shape.

Another serious problem that derives from the military's attitude towards
students is underfunding. While 4% of the national budget is spent on
education, over 40% goes to the military. There are nearly half a million
soldiers in Burma, and roughly the same number of students who are waiting
for the universities to re-open.

Before the student demonstrations in December 1996, the junta planned to
shorten the university curriculum from four years to two years in an effort
to deal with the large number of high school graduates who spent years
waiting just to get into university. Now it looks as if they will not even
get a two-year education. 


"Most young students in Rangoon are sitting in teashops waiting for the
universities to re-open. They want to do something but there's nothing they
can do," said a Thai NGO worker who recently attended an education seminar
in Rangoon.

The sight of jobless young people sitting in teashops is a common one in
Rangoon. Not as visible are the many would-be students who have turned to
drugs to deal with the hopelessness of their situation. Nor can you see the
many others who have moved to Thailand in search of work, or those sent to
prison for engaging in political activities.

"The world community and NGOs should hurry to Burma to promote education,
even if the universities are closed. There is no one else here who can help
the younger generation. So we should not wait until the government
changes," said the Thai NGO worker.

The state of education in Burma is often ridiculed in Burmese popular
culture. In a well-known censored song, the singer laments that after he
graduates, he will have to ask his friend, who didn't pass high school, to
give him a job. While university graduates in many countries complain about
the difficulty of finding a decent job, in Burma it is no exaggeration to
say that many educated people are lucky to find jobs as taxi or trishaw
drivers. 

When a famous comedian interviewing a recent high school graduate on
state-run TV jokingly congratulated her on completing her education, he
obviously struck a little too close to home. He was arrested the next day
and sentenced to a six-month jail term for making the remark. 

Another weak point in Burma's education system is corruption. Money or even
force is often used to ensure that the children of influential people
always do well in examinations and get into the best universities. "If you
can give 100,000 kyat, you are sure to win distinction in the high school
examination," said one student. For teachers earning negligible salaries,
accepting bribes is undoubtedly an irresistible temptation.

The problem of closed universities exists only for ordinary people. "This
problem is just for us because we are not VIPs," said one student in
Rangoon who has been waiting to enter university since 1995. "VIP" refers
to members of families with military connections, who can attend such
institutions as the Defense Studies Academy, the Military Institute of
Medicine, the Military Institute of Technology, the Military Institute of
Economics, or the Military Institute of Computer Science.

MOVING FORWARD

Finding a solution to these problems will not be easy, but activists in the
liberated area are determined to make a start. At the ABSDF education
seminar held on the Thai-Burma border, it was decided that a plan should be
drawn up to promote education in the liberated area while universities in
the rest of the country remain closed.

According to figures compiled by the National Educational Council,
established in Manerplaw in 1993 by the National Council for the Union of
Burma (NCUB), the liberated area has 19 high schools, 95 middle schools and
1209 primary schools, with a total of almost 150,000 students. This
includes schools in areas under the control of ethnic cease-fire groups.


"We have a plan to do a seminar to develop a curriculum for the whole
liberated area. But now we have no stable area, and another problem is the
various ethnic languages," said an officer of the NEC, adding that their
main task right now is to find supporting groups. At present, the Norway
Burma Council is their main donor.       

A student at the ABSDF Headquarters School said, "Now I study in the 6th
standard, but I don't know when we will have to move again." Burmese army
offensives have forced his school to move five times in the past seven
years. Burmese soldiers killed both his parents in his village when he was
five years old.

"They (the ABSDF and the Karen National Union) are pushing for better
education but their camps are not stable," said an Australian volunteer
teacher at the ABSDF Headquarters School. "I believe that the Burmese are
much more interested in education than people in my country," he added.
When he visited Rangoon, he said people asked him how the education system
in other countries differed from that in Burma. They also asked him about
relations between students and soldiers. 

Another western education worker involved in a teacher training program
commented that while the ABSDF and KNU were very interested in promoting
education, they were often too busy with their political activities to
devote much energy to it. He said that he was working on a six-month
program, but after three months, they still hadn't completed the
translation of teaching materials from English into Burmese and Karen. He
added that there was also a shortage of teachers, especially ones with a
professional teaching background. Most of the teachers receiving training
were former soldiers, politicians, doctors, or engineers. 

The headmaster at the ABSDF Headquarters School is a mining engineer with
no previous teaching experience. One of the teachers working under him is a
former battalion commander from the Students Army. The headmaster was
appointed to his position, but the soldier-cum-teacher was more than
willing to make a career change. "I chose myself as a teacher because I
believe that we should share our education with the new generation here."

While he seemed happy about his new line of work, not everybody shared his
enthusiasm for teaching. One leader who used to work as a professional
teacher in Burma remarked that "A commander is more important than a
teacher in the revolutionary area. We came here to do political work, not
to teach."

For some, the education problem is merely an offshoot of the political
situation. "If we can change the whole political system to make a
democratic government, it (the education problem) will be solved
automatically," commented one activist. 

Meanwhile, Burmese opposition groups continue to seek ways to educate young
people. One effective approach to providing post-secondary education has
been through the Distance Education Program, a correspondence course using
a curriculum developed by an Australian university. 

The DEP has proven very useful to former students who weren't able to
complete their university studies in Burma, and younger people who have
graduated from high schools in refugee camps in border areas of Thailand
and India. To date, the DEP has reached more than 300 students.


Another option available to some exceptional students is sponsorship to
study in foreign countries. Hundreds of students have received scholarships
from the Open Society Institute and some US and Australian universities,
giving them a chance to study at universities in Thailand, India or in
third countries. 

While such opportunities exist for a small minority of students, however,
many obstacles remain for the majority of Burmese who live in foreign
countries without official recognition. The Thai Action Committee for
Democracy in Burma, an NGO based in Thailand, established a primary school
for the children of immigrants living in Mahachai, Bangkok's "Little
Burma", but the school was later shut down for "security reasons". 

Zaw Htoo, a 20-year-old history student from Tavoy College, has been
waiting since December 1996 for a chance to resume his studies. In the
meantime, he works at a fish-processing factory in Mahachai. "We are the
victims of an inadequate education system and political unrest," he says.
"In my factory, all Thai graduates get high positions and good salaries,
but all we can do is manual labor."

But even if he had graduated, he would have been lucky to earn two thousand
kyat (roughly 200 baht) a month in Burma, compared to his present salary of
4,500 baht. Now he is not certain if he would return to Burma even if he
had a chance to continue his studies. 

The junta in Rangoon recently ordered all high schools to hold separate
examinations, to prevent a large gathering of students in one place. The
same order informed teachers that they could give students extra marks for
holding "correct" political views. 

About 300,000 students sat for high school examinations held in early
March, of whom around 100,000 could be expected to pass. That means there
will be a significant increase in the backlog of students waiting to enter
university. If universities are not opened in the near future, the total
number could reach a million within a few years. Until Burma's military
regime realizes that this figure represents a tremendous loss for the
country's future, it is unlikely to risk re-opening the universities. But
while the generals clearly wish to see their hold on power last in
perpetuity, they seem to regard the future as somebody else's problem. 

Win Htein is a correspondent for the Democratic Voice of Burma.

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