Sittwe: The Government Technical College in Sittwe was closed down by authorities on Tuesday after students demonstrated against an increase in school bus fares on Monday, said Ko Kyaw Myint, a college student.

"The college authorities announced the school would be closed immediately on July 6, soon after the demonstration, as authorities were worried the protests would continue into the next day," he said.

Over 300 students from the college staged a demonstration on Monday by marching on   the streets from the school to the state administration office in Sittwe, after the school bus fares were increased suddenly.

"We staged the demonstration in front of the Rakhine State Peace and Development Council's office demanding the school bus fare be reduced. We called off our demonstration after the authorities promised the fares would return to normal," he said.

The demonstration started at the college at 3 pm, when the school buses demanded 200 Kyat per trip from each student. The fare had previously been only 100 Kyat.

"We were unable to pay 200 Kyats as bus fare for one way, so we all decided to stage a demonstration by marching to the Rakhine State Peace and Development Council office to state our demands. We started our walk at 3 pm and reached the office at 8:30 pm. When we arrived at the office we demonstrated and demanded a reduction in the school bus fares," he said.

Government authorities promised to reduce the fares, but the college authorities still announced the school would be closed the next day. According to sources, many students are now avoiding the school out of fear that authorities will take action for the demonstration.

"The college authorities announced it would close the school on July 6, but many students will not go to school today on July 7 apprehensive of action by the authorities. The school is to remain closed through next Sunday," the student added.

The school bus owners had to demand the 200 Kyats for a one-way fare from students after steadily losing profits. In the past the bus owners received fuel from the government to ply between Sittwe and the college, but the government stopped supplying the fuel after handing over operations to the privately-owned Htoo Company, led by business tycoon Teza.

The Htoo Company has been unable to supply fuel to the school buses as earlier, and the buses subsequently demanded double fare from students.

Two years ago there were similar student demonstrations after the buses raised their fares, but the bus drivers later cut their fares after the government authorities intervened.