The military council has threatened to take action against parents who enroll their children in online schools established and opened by the National Unity Government (NUG) under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The threat emerged after the military council discovered the leaked information of more than 500 students enrolled in Free Online Educational Institution Myanmar (FOEIM), an online school.

The military council announced on March 1 that parents of students who send their children to NUG schools will be prosecuted under the Anti-Terrorism Act, and that their children should only be enrolled in schools recognized by the military council.

A parent who has enrolled two children in a NUG online school told Than Lwin Times that they do not enroll their children in the military council’s schools despite their concerns about threats against the children and parents.

The military council said it found evidence that NUG can open only three schools despite the fact that it has opened 62 online schools.

U Than Soe Naing, a political analyst, said, “”Education and health issues are essential necessities of life for ordinary people, and I believe that the military council’s interference with these issues is not building the country, but just destroying people’s lives every day”.

The FOEIM online school has announced that it will be closed from March 1 for the safety of students and teachers, but has not yet announced whether it is responsible for the data leak.

A teacher who teaches mathematics at a NUG-accredited online school also criticized the military council’s restriction on the study of the anti-regime students, saying it was destroying democratic values.

FOEIM School is a free interim school that was established after the military coup and teaches around 20,000 students from elementary, middle, and high school.

In 2022, FOEIM charged an annual school fee of 1,000 to 3,000 Thai baht per class, and there was a financial abuse scandal by the founder of FOEIM, with some disputes with the office team.