The inaugural ceremony of the 16th township level Myanmar Traditional Cultural and Performing Arts Competition (Su, Kah, Yee, Tee) was held yesterday at the No. (1) Basic Education High School (BEHS) in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State in northern Burma.

According to a school teacher, the competition will be held over two days and 129 students are participating from government schools in town. It has been organized by the township education ministry and is being attended by the State's education minister and other government officials.

“The competition is held every year. All the schools in Myitkyina were forced to join and students participated according to their age level,” the school teacher told KNG.

“The township education minister also announced that schools which didn't participate in the competition would be fined. But we don't know how much the fine would be,” she added.

To participate in the competition, primary schools in town had to register with 3,000 Kyat equal to US $ 2.5 while some schools outside town registered with 1,000 Kyat equal to US $ 0.8. The participation fees were different for government high schools and middle schools.

“To join the competition, our schools had to send the money to the township education minister's office while for high schools and middle schools, they had to give an entrance fee of at least 20,000 Kyat or 30,000 Kyat equivalent to US $ 17 or 25. There is a difference in fees between schools inside and outside town,” said a primary school teacher.

According to a teacher, the competition is to select students who will participate in the next level of competition at the state level Myanmar Traditional Cultural and Performing Arts Competition (Su, Kah, Yee, Tee) to be held in October in Kachin State.