Students from Pakokku Education College staged a demonstration led by the college student union on 14 September to demand they be allowed to continue to study in their current universities and not through correspondence courses.

A student protest said that the students of education colleges should have the right to continue their studies at these universities.

Student Aung Zaw Win said, “Our continuation of studies should not be through arts and sciences correspondence universities. It should only be in the (standard) education universities. Currently only those who graduated from the 2-year course in Education Colleges and qualified for study in Education Universities have the right to study at these universities in continuation in bridge courses. Those are only 10 percent of the total graduates of Education Colleges.”

Under this current system, most of the graduates of these Education Colleges have to study and Arts and Sciences Correspondence Universities in continuation of their studies with the number of them are about 90% of total graduates of Education Colleges. In admission of the Education Colleges these students joined their classes with over 400 marks in their matriculation exams as the primary-level teachers training courses and they were given secondary school-level teachers training certificates after the course but they are reportedly appointed only as primary-level school teachers.

Aung Zaw Win said, “We were admitted into Education Colleges with over 400 marks in township-wise quota system. We studied a primary-level teacher training course in first year and secondary-level course in second year at these Education Colleges. And then we were assigned to primary-level teachers though we were given secondary-level certificate.”

The graduates of these Education Colleges sent their demands to Ministry of Education to give them promotion to the secondary-level teacher one year after graduation from Education Colleges and admission to Education Universities three years after in the post of secondary-level teachers.

Reportedly graduates of Education Colleges can sit for exams to qualify to become secondary-level school teachers only after graduation from correspondence courses.

The students from all 14 Education Colleges across the country formed a student union and this union is demanding their right to education at the normal universities.

The Ministry of Education has not yet responded to any of their demands.