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Junta suspends thousands of academics, university staff

As many as 13,000 academics and staff at various universities in Myanmar have been suspended in recent weeks because of their involvement in the civil disobedience movement (CDM) against the military junta, according to the representative committee of the University Teachers’ Association.

As some universities have not yet announced their figures on suspensions, the number will increase, the committee said this week as the military government re-opened universities and colleges nationwide on 6 May for doctoral courses, masters studies (written test) and final-year undergraduate students. Universities in Myanmar were closed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Myanmar Statistical Yearbook 2018, teaching and research staff in higher education numbered 28,851 in 2018, of which 13,000 would represent around 45%.

Such a large number of suspensions could have a big impact on the ability of the country’s universities to deliver education, even though Myanmar’s military-controlled higher education department says it plans to replace those suspended, including by bringing university teachers out of retirement.

Lists of suspended academics and staff announced by the military itself included 619 from Yadanabon University in Mandalay, 339 from the University of Yangon, 392 from Mandalay University and 137 from Yangon University of Education. Yangon Technological University had the lowest number of teachers and staff returning to work in the whole of Yangon, according to the Yangon Technological University Students’ Union.

The vice-president of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, a final-year student at Yangon University of Education, told University World News that half the teachers at his university had been suspended.

However, teachers who participated in civil disobedience seemed likely to give in and return to universities because of various pressures on them, he said, urging students to continue with civil disobedience on behalf of the teachers who return after signing compulsory pledges not to participate in CDM.

“I don’t think the government’s education machinery can bring universities back to life,” he said.

Teachers pressured to return

Educators and administrative staff returned to campuses before the re-opening of the universities to students and were asked to report lists of teachers who took part in the civil disobedience movement.

General Min Aung Hlaing, chairman of the military government known as the State Administration Council (SAC), said at a meeting of the SAC management committee in the capital Naypyitaw on 6 May that riots had occurred after 3 February, but he claimed the situation in the country was now stable.

The military took power after a coup d’etat on 1 February, sparking the unrest.

“Because some [education] department officials who did not participate in CDM activities were threatened by teachers and service personnel like teachers and health staff, those [CDM-supporting officials] must be exposed so that they can be dismissed from service and severe action [must be] taken against them,” General Min Aung Hlaing said.

The military announced in the state-run newspaper and on TV that those who are charged with incitement under Section 505(a) of Myanmar’s Penal Code, which carries a maximum three-year sentence, for taking part in anti-junta protests should report to nearby police stations and called on citizens to inform on education staff.

They also announced that those who try to hide education staff who have been charged in order to prevent them from being arrested, will also be charged.

The military council “used various unjust means, including pressure on families, in an attempt to suppress the CDM battle of teachers and staff at various universities by offering positions and other incentives, arresting and imprisoning some leading teachers, killing, intimidating, and attempts at coercion,” but it was in vain, the University Teachers’ Association committee said.

It said the functioning and legitimacy of the military government were “severely undermined” by the refusal of staff to return to work.

Coercive measures included issuing job announcements for educational positions before suspending staff refusing to return to work. Staff also reported that academics who had not participated in civil disobedience were being interviewed for promotion, seen as another pressure tactic to get them to return.

Some suspended staff said they were told by their university heads they would not be punished if they lodged an appeal against the suspension and returned to work by 11 May, the Irrawaddy newspaper reported this week.

An English lecturer recently suspended from her post at Hpa-an University told University World News that she was summoned last week by the head of her university but did not go. “I will fight until the end. I can work as a teacher outside [the university] and teach students, but I will never work under this military dictatorship,” she said.

However, some teachers are returning under pressure, including security and livelihood issues, a mathematics lecturer at Mawlamyine University told University World News. She said some 80% of the teachers at Mawlamyine University had joined the civil disobedience movement including herself, but she estimated that this had dropped to 60% now as teachers feared they would lose their jobs. Her figures could not be independently verified.

Protests and crackdowns continue

According to student unions across Myanmar, very few students are showing up at universities since they re-opened. Most students are participating in the civil disobedience movement.

People continue to protest against the military dictatorship even though the military government uses violence to intimidate civilians, and has opened new files every day against education staff and medical doctors who participated in CDM activities.

At the same time, the military continues to torture and kill civilians. A medical university graduate died after falling from a building when the military forces raided the apartment block in Thanlyin Township, Yangon on 9 May, arresting and blindfolding 14 people.

“Although initial reports state he fell, some media have since reported that he was pushed by so-called police and soldiers,” according to the human rights group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

Mg Zin Ko Htun, a first-year student at Government Technological College (GTC), Myingyan, was abducted by military forces on 12 May in Talote town, Myingyan Township, in Mandalay region. He died the next day during military interrogation. His family was informed by the military council and told to retrieve the body, Myingyan GTC students’ union reported on its social media page.

“Interrogation under this ‘terrorist’ regime is known to be severe, so it is assumed this student died after being tortured, and from a lack of medical attention after his gunshot wound,” AAPP wrote in its daily briefing.

On the same day, a second-year chemistry student, Maung Kyaw Zin Oo, at Myingyan University, was abducted during a battle in Talote village, Myingyan Township. The incident happened after locals retaliated when military forces raided the village, arresting more than 100 locals, including women, children and the elderly. Young people were beaten, arrested and interrogated, witnesses said.

Military forces are also trying to arrest people who protest by painting walls and other structures red (signifying blood), including university walls and gates. Four military vehicles entered and stopped at the main entrance of the Yangon Technological University on 5 May after students sprayed red paint on the walls of the university’s gate, Yangon Technological University Students’ Union wrote on their social media page.

On 9 May, a group of Yadanabon University students in Mandalay were chased by a civilian car and shot at after they returned from a protest. Some sustained injuries while they were being arrested.

Some 788 people have now been confirmed to have been killed by the military forces, according to AAPP. A total of 3,936 are currently under detention; of those, 90 have been sentenced. Some 1,619 have been issued arrest warrants; of those, 20 who are evading arrest were sentenced to death in absentia and 14 to three years’ imprisonment with hard labour.

NUG develops interim education plan

University Interim Administrative Councils were formed by 53 universities across Myanmar by the National Unity Government (NUG), an alternative government formed by former National League for Democracy lawmakers elected during the November 2020 elections that were annulled by the February coup, and representatives of Myanmar’s ethnic minority groups.

Zaw Wai Soe, NUG education minister, announced on 11 May that NUG will cooperate with the interim administrative councils.

Ja Htoi Pan, NUG deputy education minister, told University World News that NUG has been working on an interim plan for continuing education in the meantime.

“As a priority for higher education, we will start with final-year undergraduate and masters-level education. We hope to start before the end of this month. We are preparing with a lot of help from international experts,” she said.