According to Ko Tin Htoo Aung, from the Mon State Students’ Union, plain clothes police officers are putting great pressure on the students as they keep a close eye on their activities.

He said: “With them watching us closely, we are not able to do anything. To speak frankly, whenever we hang out at coffee shops, a minute later policemen and men from intelligence groups come and take up all the seats in the shop. They are in plain clothes. At schools, the police are watching the students all throughout the day."

Under the constant eye of the authorities Mon State students face difficulties in organizing the movement against the educational law, as well as difficulties in focusing on their studies.

Protesting student Ko Kyaw Min Naung from Mawlamyine University remarked that some of those police and intelligence officers watching the students look like thugs, not police, causing concern for the students’ safety.

He said: “Most of the members of the group keeping an eye on us are people who are hired, and only some of them are real police. They always follow us, wherever we go. So, they can do anything to us when there are no other people but us on the street. For us, there is no security at all. Now we are just preparing for exams. We do not have any plans yet. If we have plans, they [the authorities] will be informed about them right away. They do not need to keep such a close eye on us."

Many students who participated in the February protests have moved to safe places due to increased security concerns.

On 5 March local residents and students held a protest in front of Rangoon’s city hall, calling for non-violence and support of the students who are speaking out in opposition to the National Education Bill.

During the protest, a group of thugs known as Swan Ah Shin (Masters of Force), dressed in plain-clothes and bearing arm-bands with “Duty” written on them in Burmese, along with policemen, arrived to break up the protest and arrest a number of protesters.