Anti-coup protesters hold banners and flash the three-fingered salute during a ‘flash mob’ rally near the Shwe Dagon pagoda in Bahan township in Yangon, Myanmar, on May 9. (AP Photo)
More than 11,000 academics and other university staff opposed to Myanmar’s ruling junta have been suspended after going on strike in protest against military rule, a teachers’ group told Reuters.
The suspensions come as the resumption of universities after a year closed due to the coronavirus epidemic prompts a new confrontation between the army and the staff and students who are calling for boycotts over the Feb. 1 coup.
“I feel upset to give up a job that I adored so much, but I feel proud to stand against injustice,” said one 37-year-old university rector, who gave her name only as Thandar for fear of reprisals.
Military re-opens universities but few students attend
But only a handful of students attended, according to witnesses and student union sources across the country.
The state-run newspaper
Global New Light of Myanmar said the education ministry re-opened 134 universities on 6 May, following COVID-19 health rules, and described students as ‘satisfied’ that universities had resumed so that they could grasp the opportunity for learning and jobs. Teachers arrived on campuses on 3 May to prepare for teaching, it said.
A mathematics lecturer at Mawlamyine University who withdrew from the civil disobedience movement (CDM) to protect her family told
University World News that some students attended class but she thought more students might come in the weeks ahead.
AFP/Anonymous source
Two Myanmar air force bases in the cities of Meiktila and Magway were hit by rocket attacks Thursday, and several other cities were rocked by explosions, witnesses said, with unconfirmed social media reports saying as many as six government soldiers were killed.
While the 12-week-old military junta that overthrew Myanmar’s elected government threatened to fire striking teachers and arrested more regime opponents, witnesses told of rocket attacks on key military installations in the center of the country, far from regions controlled by ethnic armies.
Six improvised rockets were fired at the air force base in Meiktila, a city in Mandalay region that is home to the Myanmar Air Force Central Command, though only five exploded, and the other one was found later by soldiers, witnesses said.
Junta announces a return to classes – but not normality
Myanmar’s military government has announced the re-opening from 5 May of public universities and colleges for final-year undergraduate students and masters students who enrolled in the 2019-20 academic year, after being closed for over a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, with no announcement of the junta’s plans for COVID-19 measures, and widespread disruption around the country as teachers and students continue to protest against the junta, few believe classes can return to normal.
The education ministry’s Department of Higher Education has instructed all staff and teachers to return to work from this week, according to teachers from Mawlamyine University. However, many teachers taking part in the civil disobedience movement (CDM) against the 1 February military coup say they will refuse to serve under the military government. Many others will not be able to return to teach at this time.
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