Nearly 60,000 students took the National Unity Government (NUG) organised matriculation exams in its Southern Military Region 3 area from 15 to 21 March.

The exams were organised by the NUG Ministry of Education and the NUG Ministry of Defence, as part of the NUG’s interim education program.

Both students and PDF soldiers from the NUG’s Southern Military Command sat the exam whilst local resistance forces provided security and emergency health care to those taking the exams.

The NUG Deputy Minister of Education, Ja Htoi Pan, said: “The exam was taken by nearly 60,000 people, including PDF members and students from all over the country. We administered the exam both in-person and online. We held the matriculation exams in monasteries and schools where the students' safety could be guaranteed. Online students had to fill out their answers in the allotted time via a phone or laptop with internet access. Detailed information will be released shortly after the two exams are completed.”

This was the first year. that the NUG has organised matriculation exams and over 90,000 students have registered to take the exams. The NUG claims that the two-hour exam will assess knowledge, understanding, and creative thinking in comparison to the military council's rote-based education system.

There are plans to hold the exams twice a year, in March and August and those who could not take the exam this March will have an opportunity to do so in August.

Ja Htoi Pan, said: “We conducted this exam with the help of everyone, including the Ministry of Education, PDF leaders, PDF commanders, and Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) teachers. I'm also glad that PDF members are taking exams. Despite the fact that they are fighting junta forces with their guns, they are still willing to study and have prepared extensively for the exam. They have the right to access education.”

The junta organised its own matriculation exams and held them throughout the country from 8 to 18 March.

According to the junta over 160,000 students across the country took the junta’s 2023 matriculation exams this March. That was a 42 per cent decrease in numbers from 2022 when over 280,000 students took the matriculation exam. Previously, in March 2019, before the coup and before COVID-19 took hold, more than 910,000 students across the country took the matriculation exam.