The Kalemyo Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) has started to tax people heavily for opening a Bible School in Kalemyo, Sagaing division western Burma.
 
 Last year the TPDC had collected Kyat one lakh. This year it has raised its target to Kyat two lakhs.
 
 “The Burmese military junta authorities are collecting taxes in the entire country. They are also increasing the rate of taxation to more than last year in other places as well. But we have no idea of the exact amount of money collected from other locations,” said a teacher of Kalemyo Christian Bible School.
 
 In Kalemyo, there are 47 Bible Schools with 30 to 50 pupils in each school.
 
 “We have taken Kyat 7,000 to 10,000 as school fees per student. Last year we could manage to run our school with the same amount but now it has become very difficult to manage, because school taxes have doubled since last year,” a teacher in Lairawn Baptist School said.
 
 “Some students cannot pay the fees, so we cannot pay the rent for the school building on a regular basis. Neither can we purchase small amounts of dry food. While it is all right to collect some tax, the authorities are collecting far too much!” he added.
 
 There are about 20,000 bible students in Kalemyo area each year. Most are Chin youths from different areas. In Chin state, there is a Bible School in each township.