The junta has removed the most of teachers who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) after the military coup, and detained some CDM teachers in Shan State.
Some CDM teachers facing many threats, have gone into hiding for an indefinite period of time.
“It is impossible to teach during this time due to the challenges of security and health,” said Daw Nwe Ni Khaing (not her real name), a CDM teacher from a township in the southern Shan State. She got sacked for joining the CDM.
In Taunggyi and all over Myanmar education is in crisis. “Although I cannot say exactly the attendance rate, the students who go to school are just around 30 percent. The attendance rates at the primary and middle level are higher than that,” said a person who lives near a school.
The CDM teacher added “Educated people are arrested, shot and killed at random. I cannot work under the military council which is killing the people. It does not make sense to attend schools to do teaching, where there is no safety and no mental and physical security,” she added.
She has always joined the anti-coup protests since early February. Currently, she has been forced into hiding. CDM teachers said that soldiers and police members took the photo records of the teachers who joined the anti-coup protest in early February. Then, the military council tried to arrest the CDM teachers.
Unlike Daw Nwe Ni Khaing, some CDM teachers like Daw Wah Wah Aung (not real name) in Shan State have returned to school. Daw Wah Wah Aung said: “Since the coup till March, I joined the CDM. They (authorities) know who and where I live as our town is very small. Even they know the family members. In the beginning, I was hiding in another town after joining the CDM. I faced difficulty as I have three children. Some education staff phoned me that I would face a big problem if I did not go back to school.”
Like teacher Daw Wah Wah Aung (not real name), CDM teachers who decided to be non-CDM-ers have their difficulties. Some teachers who are going to take retirement did not join the anti-coup protests. Some teachers think that they have a duty to do teaching whatever government takes office.
There is no doubt that the absence of CDM teaching staff is having a major impact on teaching with most schools suffering weak enrollment from parents, far fewer students and numbers of teachers. Most of the students also joined the no-school campaigns, especially high school students.
Barricades are placed in front of the schools in Taunggyi Township. In addition, the security forces are deployed in the compound of the schools. They are in a position to check the list of students, said the teachers who went to school.
“My child is a matriculation student this year. I still see the arrests of my friends’ children with my own eyes. I don’t believe the authorities at all. I will not enroll my child as long as the army governs the country. I don’t send my child to the tuition class either. The child’s safety is more important than education,” said a parent of a student from Taunggyi.
