Myanmar’s Union Parliament on Thursday voted into law a controversial bill for education reform, angering student activists who said the law in its amended form has failed to include key provisions they believed had been agreed to in government-sponsored talks according to a report by RFA on 19 June.
The now-enacted National Education Law “is very different, both in concept and essence” from the 11 demands student leaders thought they had won in four-way discussions earlier this year with government representatives, lawmakers, and education reform advocates, one student activist told RFA’s Myanmar Service on Thursday.
“The government and parliament refused to approve the draft law that included student demands presented in the talks,” said Aung Nay Paing, a leader of Democracy Education Initiative Committee, which had participated in the talks.
“They have broken their promises and agreements,” he said.
Student demands had included a secure role for student unions in forming education policy, though the law now cites only participation by “student representatives,” Aung Nay Paing said, adding that the new law simply strengthens government control.
“This puts student unions on a level with other, ordinary social organizations,” he said. “It shouldn’t be like this.”
Other demands proposed by students and reformers include a decentralized education system; changes to university entrance exams; modernization of the national curriculum; the provision of free, compulsory education through Grade 9; and the guarantee of “mother tongue instruction” in the language of Myanmar’s ethnic minorities in the lower grades.
Aung Nay Paing said that his group will continue to push for reform.
“We didn’t get what we wanted, but we will hold a meeting with the Democracy Education Initiative Committee’s members and discuss exactly what we are going to do next.”